Moon Township, Pa. – According to a poll of Horizon League head coaches, the RMU softball team has been picked to finish second in the league in 2023.
Earning preseason status as the favorite is defending champion Oakland, which tallied eight first-place votes and accrued 77 points. The Colonials accumulated 68 points as part of the preseason poll and grabbed the other first-place tally. Rounding out the top five of the 2023 #HLSB Preseason Poll is Cleveland State (61), Green Bay (51) and Youngstown State (50).
Led by fifth-year head coach
Jexx Varner, the Colonials return five starters from an appearance in the 2022 #HLSB Tournament championship game. RMU notched an overall record of 31-21 (.596) last season, including a mark of 16-9 (.640) in the Horizon League. It marked the first time the Colonials eclipsed the 30-win plateau since 2013.
Among the returning starters for RMU in 2023 is its entire infield in
Avery Winchell (1B),
Anna Resnik (2B),
Charlotte Grover (SS) and
Alaina Koutsogiani (3B) as well as catcher
Meadow Sacadura. Koutsogiani and Grover started all 52 games last season, while Resnik started 51 of RMU's 52 contests.
Sacadura earned a spot on both the 2022 All-Horizon League Second Team and 2022 All-Horizon League Freshman Team, while Koutsogiani also earned all-freshman accolades. Sacadura hit .313 (30-for-96) for the Colonials last season in 36 games, connecting for a pair of home runs while driving in 13. She also threw out 11 runners trying to steal from behind the dish.
En route to 2022 All-Horizon League Freshman Team status, Koutsogiani hit .270 (48-for-178), leading #HLSB in stolen bases (38) and ranking third in the circuit in runs (35). In establishing an RMU single-season record for thefts, Koutsogiani tied for 11th in NCAA Division I in stolen bases with Alison Guckin of Norfolk State. She enters her sophomore campaign 21 steals shy of establishing a new career mark in the category.
Grover, who was named to the 2021 #HLSB All-Freshman Team, tied for the team lead in round trippers last year with five while also ranking third on the team in RBI (26). She produced a .261/.324/.412 slash line during the 2022 campaign and has started each of her 84 games for the Colonials at short over the last two seasons. Grover is RMU's career active leader in home runs (9), runs (47), doubles (15) and RBI (48).
The Colonials will also be bolstered by the return of three of their five pitchers from last season, including graduate student
Dana Vatakis, who tied for team-high honors in victories (8) from the circle while striking out a team-high 101 batters. In 65 career starts, Vatakis owns a career earned run average (ERA) of 3.38 with 32 victories and 289 strikeouts.
RMU opens its 2023 season Friday, Feb. 10, with a 1:00 p.m. first pitch in Boiling Springs, N.C., against Austin Peay as part of the Runnin' Bulldog Classic. The Colonials will also face George Mason Friday at 3:00 p.m. at Brinkley Stadium.
| 2023 #HLSB Preseason Poll |
|
| School (First-Place Votes) |
Points |
| 1. Oakland (8) |
77 |
| 2. RMU (1) |
68 |
| 3. Cleveland State |
61 |
| 4. Green Bay |
51 |
| 5. Youngstown State |
50 |
| 6. Northern Kentucky |
43 |
| 7. IUPUI |
22 |
| 8. Purdue Fort Wayne |
20 |
| 9. Detroit Mercy |
13 |
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