Southeast Missouri has been selected to win the 2021 Ohio Valley Conference crown as voted on by the league’s head softball coaches and sports information directors. The Redhawks earned 13 first-place votes and 228 points. Eastern Kentucky earned nine first-place votes and is selected to finish second place with 224 points while Jacksonville State picked up the remaining first-place votes and 211 points to be predicted to place third. Murray State earned 167 points to be selected to finish fourth while SIUE is picked to finish fifth with 151 points. Rounding out the poll are Austin Peay (143), UT Martin (109), Tennessee Tech (97), Eastern Illinois (92), Belmont (88), Tennessee State (34) and Morehead State (32).
Southeast Missouri posted a 12-5 record last year in a season that was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2019, the Redhawks won a share of its sixth regular-season and their fifth tournament title. Rachel Anderson, who was named the 2019 OVC Player of the Year, will be back this season. Prior to the season being canceled last year, she hit a team-best .480 and led the Redhawks in runs (19), hits (24), triples (5), slugging percentage (.880), on-base percentage (.541) and stolen bases (9) in 17 starts. Senior Ashley Ellis will also return to the field after she hit a team-leading eight home runs last season. She finished the 2020 season with a .347 batting average while recording 13 runs scored, 17 hits, two doubles and 21 RBI.
Prior to the season being canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Eastern Kentucky went 22-2 overall. Sammi Miller and Ariyana Miranda will be back for the Colonels this season. Over the 24 games, Miller hit a team-leading .427 with 32 hits, 24 runs scored, eight doubles and 13 RBI. Miranda started all 24 games and was first on the team with six home runs. She posted a .320 batting average with 24 hits, 24 runs scored and 23 RBI.
Jacksonville State finished the shortened 2020 season with an 11-9 record. The Gamecocks will have Karsen Mosley and Megan Fortner back this year. Mosley finished the season second on the team with 17 runs scored while leading the team with 25 hits and 65 at-bats. She posted a .385 batting average with three home runs and five doubles. Fortner started all 20 games last year and had nine runs scored, 21 hits, 64 at-bats and a .328 batting average. She also recorded nine doubles and three home runs.
The 2021 OVC Softball Championship is slated for May 13-15 in Oxford, Ala.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Lexi Osowski, IF, Jr. - Austin Peay
Osowski recorded a .434 batting average through 23 games in 2020. She also had 33 hits, 25 RBI and five home runs during the shortened season last year. In 2019, Osowski was named to the All-OVC second team.
Alice Veltri, P, Sr. - Belmont
Veltri redshirted last season. In 2019, she made 25 starts in the circle with 15 complete games. She recorded a 2.98 ERA with 140 strike outs.
Haley Mitchell, UTIL/DP, R-Sr. - Eastern Illinois
Mitchell started all 21 games in the shorten 2020 season. She posted a .295 batting average with 18 hits and 10 RBI. She had three doubles on the season.
Ariyana Miranda, IF, R-Fr. - Eastern Kentucky
Miranda started all 24 games last season and finished with a .320 batting average. She had six doubles, six home runs and 23 RBI.
Karsen Mosley, 3B, So. - Jacksonville State
In a shortened 2020 season, Mosley started all 20 games. She led the team with 25 hits and ranked second on the team with 17 runs scored. Mosley also had five doubles, five home runs and 21 RBI.
Peyton Slater, C/INF, Jr. - Morehead State
Slater posted a .333 batting average with 12 runs and team-best four doubles. She also had one home run, eight RBI and 21 total bases.
Sierra Gilmore, INF, Sr. - Murray State
Gilmore played in all 22 games of a shortened season last year. She led the team with a .369 batting average, 26 RBI and 16 runs scored. Also in 2020, Gilmore hit a team-best seven home runs with a .769 slugging percentage.
Rachel Anderson, OF, Sr. - Southeast Missouri
Anderson hit a team-best .480 in a shortened season last year. She led the team with 19 runs, 24 hits, five triples, a .880 slugging percentage, a .541 on-base percentage and nine stolen bases. In 2019, she was named the OVC Player of the Year.
Zoe Schafer, IF, R-Sr. - SIUE
Schafer started in all 18 games in a 2020 shortened season. She led the team in RBI with 19 and tied for the team lead with four home runs. Schafer moved into third place on the SIUE all-time home runs list with 25.
Lauren Powell, P, R-Sr. -Tennessee State
Powell appeared in 11 games in a shortened 2020. She had five complete games and finished 3-6 with a 2.91 ERA. Powel struck out 50 batters in 53.0 innings and held opponents to a .229 batting average.
Beth McCulley, OF, R-Sr - Tennessee Tech
McCulley started all 19 games in a shortened season last year. She recorded a .283 batting average with 15 hits. She drove in five runs and scored nine times last season.
Paige Clark, OF, Jr. - UT Martin
In a shortened season, Clark started in all 22 games. She notched a .319 batting average with 16 runs, five doubles, one home run and 14 RBI. Clark posted a .372 on-base percentage and a .431 slugging percentage.