Southeast Missouri has been selected to win the 2022 Ohio Valley Conference softball crown as voted on by the league’s head coaches and communications directors. The Redhawks earned 16 first-place votes and 157 points. Austin Peay earned two first-place votes and is selected to finish in second place with 140 points. Murray State received one first place vote and 121 points for a third-place predicted finish. UT Martin picked up the last first-place nod and is picked and 107 points to be picked to finish in a tie for fourth with Eastern Illinois. Rounding out the poll are SIUE (82), Tennessee Tech (69), Belmont (63), Tennessee State (33) and Morehead State (21).
Southeast Missouri posted a 23-6 OVC record while going 30-17 overall en route to its second straight and seventh overall regular-season title. Rachel Rook, who was named the 2021 OVC Pitcher of the Year, will be back this season. Rook led the OVC in wins (20), innings pitched (163.0), strikeouts (196), shutouts (7) and opponent batting average (.191) last season. Also returning this year is sophomore outfielder Jillian Anderson. Anderson, a 2021 All-Newcomer selection, hit .268 with 22 runs scored, 33 hits, 11 doubles and 15 RBI last year.
Austin Peay went 22-11 in league play while posting a 27-16 overall mark to finish third in the OVC last year. The Governors will have senior infielder Lexi Osowski and sophomore pitcher Jordan Benefiel returning this season. Osowski was named to the All-OVC First Team after leading the league with a .425 batting average. She also finished in OVC top 10 in hits (54), runs (35) and slugging percentage (.622). Benefiel was named the OVC Freshman of the Year along with earning spots on the All-OVC Second Team and All-Newcomer squad. She tied Austin Peay’s single-season record for shutouts by a freshman with three. She finished the year with a 2.03 ERA, 80 strikeouts and one save.
Murray State finished the 2021 season with a 19-15 OVC record and a 22-29 overall mark to finished sixth in the league. The Racers will have redshirt senior infielder Sierra Gillmore and redshirt sophomore pitcher Jenna Veber back from last year’s teams. Gilmore was named to the All-OVC second team last year after she led the team with a .327 batting average and 40 RBI. Veber, an All-Newcomer pick last season, made an OVC-leading 30 appearances in 2021. She posted a 2.58 ERA with 61 strikeouts.
The 2022 OVC Softball Championship is slated for May 11-14, in Oxford, Ala.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Lexi Osowski, IF, Sr. - Austin Peay
In 2021, Osowski led the league with a .425 batting. She also finished in the top in the conference in hits (4th), runs (4th) and slugging percentage (9th ). Osowski was also named to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Central Region Third team for the second time in her career.
Cheyenne Cavanaugh, OF, Sr. - Belmont
Cavanaugh was named to the All-OVC Second Team last year. She recorded a league-leading seven triples last season. Cavanaugh finished the season with a .376 batting average and 47 hits.
Megan Burton, IF, R-Sr. - Eastern Illinois
Burton was named the 2021 OVC Player of the Year and earned a spot on the All-OVC Fist Team. She led the league in home runs with 18 which also ranked 9th in the NCAA. She also paced the team in runs scored (43) and RBI (46) which both ranked second in the league.
Lennon Spicer, P, So. - Morehead State
Spicer made 30 appearances as a freshman, starting 18 games. She finished with a 9-19 record and a 4.24 EAR. She struck out 79 batters in 157 innings. Spicer also posted a .265 batting average with two doubles, one home run and six RBI.
Sierra Gilmore, IF, R-Sr. -Murray State
Gilmore was named to the All-OVC second team last year after recording a team-leading .327 batting average and 40 RBI. She also scored 22 times and notched a .532 slugging percentage in 2021. She started all 51 games for the Racers and had a league leading 17 doubles last year.
Rachel Rook, P, R-Sr. - Southeast Missouri
Rook was named the OVC Pitcher of the Year and was selected to the All-OVC First Team last year. She led the OVC in wins (20), innings pitched (163.0), strikeouts (196), shutouts (7) and opponent batting average (.191) in 2021.
Sydney Baalman, P, So. - SIUE
Baalman was named to the All-Newcomer team last season. She won her last six outings of the year, including four innings of shutout against Belmont to end the season. She led the team in wins (10), complete games (12) and strikeouts (93).
Anayah Baker-Rowell, INF/UTIL -Tennessee State
Baker-Rowell led the team in hits (37), doubles (6) and total bases (58) last season. She also tied for first on the squad with three triples. Baker-Rowell had just 10 strikeouts in 130 at-bats in 2021.
Haeli Bryson, P/IF- Tennessee Tech
Bryson played in 48 games, recording a .232 batting average with 33 hits, 12 runs scored and 13 RBI. She also made 22 appearances in the circle last season, finishing with a 3.07 ERA and 66 strikeouts.
Kaitlyn Kelley, IF, Jr., - UT Martin
Kelley was named to the All-OVC First Team last year after breaking UT Martin’s single-season home run record (17) and leading the league in RBI (48) and total bases (112). She posted a .338 batting average with 26 runs, 51 hits and 10 doubles while recording a .742 slugging percentage.
2022 OVC SOFTBALL PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH
(as voted on by the league’s head softball coaches and sports information directors)
1. Southeast Missouri (16 first-place votes) - 157
2. Austin Peay (Two first-place votes) - 140
3. Murray State (One first-place vote) - 121
t4. Eastern Illinois - 107
t4. UT Martin (One first-place vote) - 107
6. SIUE - 82
7. Tennessee Tech - 69
8. Belmont - 63
9. Tennessee State - 33
10. Morehead State - 21
(Schools were not allowed to rank their own team. 9 points awarded for a first-place vote, 8 for second, etc.)