Fontbonne Softball Picked To Finish Fourth In SLIAC Preseason Poll

ST. LOUIS, Mo.—The St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) released the 2023 Softball Preseason Poll today and the reigning SLIAC Regular Season and Tournament Champion Fontbonne Griffins come in at No. 4.

Spalding holds the top spot with 36 points and three first-place votes. They're followed by SLIAC Tournament runner-up Greenville with 34 points and a first-place vote. Webster stands in third with 31 points and a first-place vote, while Fontbonne was a point behind and one first-place vote.

The Griffins are coming off its second straight SLIAC Regular Season Title and first Tournament Championship since 2015.

Fontbonne advanced to the NCAA Tournament where they fell against No. 5 Belhaven (8-2) and No. 7 Linfield (4-3).

This year, the Griffins will have Roni Knitting at the helm in her first year as the team will be looking to replace the likes of Lexi Becker, Grace Harlin, Gracie Morris and Hannah Miener offensively, while Michaela Mason and Abby Richmond are the departed arms.

Inside the circle, the team compiled a 4.20 team ERA and they'll bring back Hailey Kutz to lead the way after earning Third Team honors. The southpaw finished with a team-high eight wins in 2022, totaling 78.1 innings pitched, 71 strikeouts, and a 3.04 ERA.

Sam Foppe. Abby Alonzo, and Hannah Borgmeyer also return after combining for 68 strikeouts and nine victories.

At the dish, the Griffins batted .324 as a team and they'll look to Lilly Jones to pace them after being named to the SLIAC Third Team last year. The senior set new career-highs last year in average (.377), hits (49), stolen bases (17), on-base percentage (.400), and slugging percentage (.415).

Allysa Ibarra, who was also named to the Third Team, had a standout freshman season batting .348 with 40 hits, 28 runs scored, and 16 RBI.

Alonzo brought the power at the plate finishing second on the team with four homers, to go along with her .455 average.

The Griffins welcome nine newcomers to the roster in Jaynanne Roate, Nevaeh Redmond, Makenzie Howell, Kami Matthews, Brenna Foley, Ashley Carrow, Kennedy Bess, Bailee Whittaker, and Jess Ballard.

The Griffins will get its season underway on February 18^th in Montgomery, Ala., taking on Centre and Huntingdon.

To view the entire SLIAC Preseason Poll visit HERE.

To view the 2023 Fontbonne schedule visit HERE.

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