DALLAS – Mary Hardin-Baylor narrowly edged East Texas Baptist in the preseason predictions for the 2024 American Southwest Conference Softball Championship title after a vote of the league’s head coaches and sports information directors, announced by the league office on Wednesday (January 24).
 
Mary Hardin-Baylor won the 2023 ASC Regular Season and secured the top slot in this preseason ranking with 151 points and nine first-place votes. The Cru went 35-14 overall last season with a 22-4 record in the conference. UMHB hosted a NCAA Regional Tournament and went 3-2 with both setbacks determined by a run.
 
East Texas Baptist followed right behind with 147 points and claimed the other half of the first-place votes with nine. ETBU claimed its 11th ASC Championship Tournament last season with a 3-2, eight-inning walk-off in Belton to win the title. The Tigers went 39-7 overall with a 22-5 conference mark. ETBU hosted an NCAA Regional Tournament and went 1-2 overall. The institution was the site of the NCAA Division III National Championship, too.
 
LeTourneau and McMurry tied for third with 106 points. The YellowJackets had a 28-16 overall record last season, while McMurry went 26-15. Both teams were 16-11 in ASC play. Hardin-Simmons came in fifth with 88 points and are coming off a 26-15 season, too. The Cowgirls went 15-11 in conference play. UT Dallas checks in at sixth with 82 points and also had a winning record with a 24-18 overall mark and 15-12 conference record.
 
Concordia Texas (66 pts.), Howard Payne (42 pts.), and Ozarks (22 pts.) round out the preseason rankings.
 
Sul Ross State will not count in the 2024 standings and are ineligible for both the ASC and NCAA Championships due to reclassifying to NCAA Division II.
 
In addition to the preseason poll, 30 players were named by their respective head coaches to the ASC Softball Preseason Watch List, including 18 players who earned ASC All-Conference awards in 2023. This includes ASC Player of the Year, Tristen Maddox, who is a senior shortstop with ETBU. She was also named one-of-two 2023 ASC Athletes of the Year.
 
2024 ASC Softball Schedule
 

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2024 ASC Softball Preseason Poll

Rank	Team (1st place votes)	Pts.	2023 Record (ASC)
1.	Mary Hardin-Baylor (9)	151	35-14 (22-4)
2.	East Texas Baptist (9)	147	39-7 (22-5)
3.	LeTourneau	106	28-16 (16-11)
3.	McMurry	106	26-15 (16-11)
5.	Hardin-Simmons	88	26-15 (15-11)
6.	UT Dallas	82	24-18 (15-12)
7.	Concordia Texas	66	19-20 (10-17)
8.	Howard Payne	42	15-24 (8-19)
9.	Ozarks	22	6-34 (2-25)
$ -	Sul Ross State	-	10-22 (8-19)

$ – Ineligible for ASC and NCAA Championships  
 

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2024 ASC Softball Preseason Players to Watch

Name	Cl.	Pos.	School	Hometown
Grace Coleman *	Jr.	CF	Concordia Texas	Klein, Texas
Kylie Denaro	So.	OF	Concordia Texas	League City, Texas
Addison Lehew	Jr.	LHP	Concordia Texas	Deer Park, Texas
Tauryn Cummings *	Sr.	3B	East Texas Baptist	Houston, Texas
Tristen Maddox * P	Sr.	SS	East Texas Baptist	Mission, Texas
Courtney White *	Sr.	2B	East Texas Baptist	Jonestown, Texas
Haley Henson *	Jr.	OF	Hardin-Simmons	Maypearl, Texas
Madison Mayhew *	Jr.	1B	Hardin-Simmons	Beaverton, Ore.
Haven Williams *	Sr.	RHP	Hardin-Simmons	Abilene, Texas
Bree Cason *	Sr.	RHP	Howard Payne	Telephone, Texas
Maddison Cason *	Jr.	OF	Howard Payne	Telephone, Texas
Makayla Wesley	Jr.	C	Howard Payne	Georgetown, Texas
Kylie Grisham *	Jr.	SS	LeTourneau	Huntsville, Texas
Kenna Hendry *	Jr.	C	LeTourneau	Spring, Texas
Hailee Leger *	Sr.	RHP	LeTourneau	Belle Chasse, La.
Bailey Eggleston *	Sr.	OF	Mary Hardin-Baylor	Spring, Texas
Lindsey Polleschultz	Jr.	SS	Mary Hardin-Baylor	Cypress, Texas
Bryton Wright	So.	1B/DP	Mary Hardin-Baylor	Melissa, Texas
Angelica Abila	Sr.	OF	McMurry	Lubbock, Texas
Mercedes Camacho *	Sr.	OF	McMurry	El Paso, Texas
Jenna Lewis *	Sr.	RHP	McMurry	Hearne, Texas
Margaret Blackstar	So.	OF	Ozarks	Ponca City, Okla.
Morgan Haupt	So.	P	Ozarks	Derby, Kan.
Kya Schmidt	Sr.	OF	Ozarks	Greenwood, Ark.
Leanza Chambers *	So.	RHP	Sul Ross State	Portland, Texas
Samantha Chavez	Sr.	2B	Sul Ross State	El Paso, Texas
Jaelyn Zuniga	Sr.	RHP/OF	Sul Ross State	Las Cruces, N.M.
Addison Caddell *	So.	3B	UT Dallas	Sulphur Springs, Texas
Claire Pollack *	So.	OF	UT Dallas	League City, Texas
Allison Koch	Fr.	P	UT Dallas	Colleyville, Texas

Players selected by their respective head coach  
^P 2023 ASC Player of the Year
* 2023 All-Conference