HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana softball team was selected third in the 2021 Southland Conference preseason poll, which was released by the league office on Friday.
 
The poll was voted on by the Southland head coaches and sports information directors. Stephen F. Austin received 17 first-place votes and was picked to win the regular season championship.
 
McNeese, SLU, Sam Houston and Central Arkansas rounded out the top five. Northwestern State was picked sixth, followed by Nicholls, Lamar, Abilene Christian, Houston Baptist, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and UIW. The top eight teams in the regular season standings will advance to the Southland Conference Tournament, scheduled for May 11-14 at North Oak Park in Hammond, Louisiana.
 
SLU finished 15-8 overall last spring when the season was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Southeastern returns eight positional starters and five pitchers from last season's squad.
 
Veterans Madisen Blackford (.379, 19 RBI in 2020), Lindsey Rizzo (.369, 15 SB), Karlee Kraft (.313, 2 HR, 13 RBI) and Ella Manzer (.305, 3 HR, 16 RBI) are all returning starters for SLU, while the quartet of Aeriyl Mass (.364, 17 SB), Kelci Bodin (.362), Audrey Greely (.327, 13 RBI) and Cameron Goodman (.288, 12 SB) all are back after earning starting spots in their debut springs in Hammond.
 
Briahna Bennett also is back and made a huge impact at the plate in the fall, leading the team with a .571 batting average, three home runs and 13 RBI. True freshman Lexi Johnson also had a productive fall offensively and is expected to add extra firepower to the SLU attack.
 
In the circle, MC Comeaux (5-1, 0.93 ERA in 2020) is expected to be a top arm for Southeastern, which also returns Kraft (1-1, 3.50 ERA), Heather Zumo (2-2, 3.55 ERA), Sophie Hannabas (2-1, 3.92 ERA) and Shelby Sitzman (0-1, 14.54 ERA).
 
Blackford, Manzer and Comeaux were named to the preseason All-Southland Conference teams on Thursday.
 
SLU is scheduled to open the 2021 season on Thursday, Feb. 11, hosting South Dakota at 5 p.m. in the opening game of the Lion Classic. The game will be streamed on the Southeastern Sports Network at www.LionSports.net/ssn.
 
2021 Southland Conference Preseason Poll
Team (First place votes) – Points
1. Stephen F. Austin (17) – 235
2. McNeese (4) – 217
3. Southeastern Louisiana – 183
4. Sam Houston (1) – 172
5. Central Arkansas (1) – 162
6. Northwestern State (1) – 156
7. Nicholls – 131
8. Lamar – 86
9. Abilene Christian – 82
10. Houston Baptist – 81
11. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi – 47
12. UIW – 32
 
TICKETS
For ticket information, please contact the Southeastern Athletics Ticket Office at (985) 549-5466 or visit www.LionSports.net/tickets. Southeastern is implementing mobile ticketing as the primary source for securing tickets for the 2020-21 season. All tickets will be available via e-mail and text message in a PDF format for fans to download on their phone or print at home. Tickets can also be downloaded to Apple Wallet.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information on Southeastern Softball, follow @LionUpSoftball on Twitter and Instagram, like /SLUathletics on Facebook and subscribe to the SLUathletics YouTube channel.
 
HOME RUN CLUB / S CLUB
Fans interested in becoming active supporters of the softball program are encouraged to join the Home Run Club. Lady Lion softball alums are encouraged to join the exclusive S Club, which is restricted to Southeastern athletic letter winners.
 
All membership fees and donations to both the Home Run Club and S Club (softball) are available for the exclusive use of the Southeastern softball program. Membership information is available by contacting the Lion Athletics Association at laa@southeastern.edu or (985) 549-5091 or visiting www.LionUp.com.
 
CLEAR BAG POLICY
Southeastern Athletics instituted a clear bag policy for all ticketed events (softball, baseball, football and basketball), effective with the start of the 2018 football season. For more information on the clear bag policy, visit www.LionSports.net/clear.