Softball | 2/11/2016 12:38:00 PM
Moon Township, Pa. – The
Robert Morris University softball team was predicted to finish second in the Northeast Conference in the league's annual preseason poll, as voted on by head coaches and announced by the NEC Thursday afternoon.
LIU Brooklyn, with seven first-place votes, took the top spot ahead of RMU. Bryant and Central Connecticut State, each of whom claimed one first-place vote, came in third and fourth, respectively.
RMU returns four student-athletes that garnered All-NEC recognition a year ago as it seeks a first-place finish in the conference standings for the fifth time in six years. Three of those four Colonials earned All-NEC honors for the second time in their career in 2015.
Senior
Ashley Gerhart claimed All-NEC First Team accolades a year ago after sitting among the top four in the league in batting average (.351) and on-base percentage (.426) while ranking among the top 10 in slugging (.534). Gerhart also added career highs in home runs (5), RBI (22) and total bases (70) and hit at a league-leading .457 clip in conference contests.
Gerhart's fellow outfielder, senior
Kristen Gabelt, contributed a breakout junior campaign in 2015 in which she ranked among the top five in the league in on-base percentage (.423), slugging percentage (.620), home runs (9) and total bases (85). Gabelt reached base safely in 18 consecutive games a season ago and her slugging mark was the third-highest by a Colonial in the past decade.
Junior
Jordan Gurganus took home her second All-NEC honor in as many seasons last year after the speedy slapper became just the second Colonial ever to win the NEC batting title, which she did with a .384 mark. Gurganus, who led the league with 63 hits and led the team with 27 runs, posted a multi-hit outing (19) more than twice the amount of times she went hitless (7).
Senior
Haileigh Stocks rounds out the Colonials' returning all-league performers after setting career bests in on-base percentage (.358) and runs (22) a year ago. Last season, Stocks became the first Colonial since 2007 to finish a season with more walks than strikeouts (min. 100 at bats).
Robert Morris returns three other letterwinners that each saw significant action last season.
Senior
Lauren Hackett, who has played in 102 career games, is back after being named to the NEC All-Tournament Team a year ago. Junior
Stacey Capp started 47 games in RMU's middle infield last year while ranking second in the league in sacrifices and posting the second-best at bat-to-strikeout ratio on the team. Sophomore
Olivia Lorusso made 36 starts at the hot corner for RMU in 2015 and was a two-time NEC Rookie of the Week.
Saint Francis, Fairleigh Dickinson, Sacred Heart, Mount St. Mary's and Wagner took spots five through nine, respectively, in the poll.
RMU will open the 2016 season this weekend at the CSU Dome Invitational, a round-robin event featuring five teams. The Colonials will open the tournament Saturday, Feb. 13, at 11:30 a.m. by facing Morehead State. Robert Morris will also meet Niagara, the host Vikings and Bowling Green on the weekend.
Fans can follow all the action this weekend, and for the season, with live statistics. Links will be available on the softball schedule page. A live blog will generally be available for all games without live video. Links will be posted the day of the game on the softball home page. When games will have live video available, links will be provided on the softball schedule page. Fans can also keep up with RMU on Twitter @RMUSoftball.
