HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University softball team was picked second in the preseason Southland Conference poll and placed five players on the preseason All-Southland Conference teams, the league office announced Friday.
 
Southeastern returns 13 letterwinners from last season's record-setting squad that finished 47-14 and set the school record for victories for the second straight season. Reigning conference champion McNeese was selected as the preseason favorite, followed by SLU, Nicholls, Lamar, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Northwestern State, HCU, UIW and Texas A&M-Commerce.
 
SLU returns eight positional starters and five of them were selected to the preseason All-SLC teams. Lexi Johnson, Bailey Krolczyk and Audrey Greely were named to the first team, while Ka'Lyn Watson and Cam Goodman represented SLU on the second team.
 
Johnson was a first team All-SLC and second team All-Louisiana selection at first base 2023. The Reserve, Louisiana native shared the league lead with five triples and ranked in the SLC top 10 in batting average (.337, 8^th), slugging percentage (.588, 2^nd), runs (38, 3^rd), hits (63, 3^rd), RBI (45, 2^nd), home runs (9, 2^nd) and total bases (110, 2^nd).
 
Krolczyk became the first player in program history to be named SLC Player and Hitter of the Year, while also earning All-Southland, All-Louisiana and NFCA All-South Region honors a year ago. The Corpus Christi, Texas native led the Southland with a .661 slugging percentage, 50 RBI, 10 home runs, 18 doubles and 117 total bases, while ranking second in the league with a .379 batting average, 39 runs scored and hits. She set new single-season school records for longest hitting streak (22 games), total bases, extra-base hits (29) and sacrifice flies (6).
 
Like Krolczyk, Greely was named first team All-SLC for the second straight season. The Geismar, Louisiana native also was named second team All-Louisiana after leading the Southland with a .448 on-base percentage and ranking among the conference's top 10 in batting average (.336, 10^th), slugging percentage (.538, 5^th), runs (35, 7^th), RBI (31, 10^th), home runs (6, 5^th), walks (20, 9^th) and hit by pitch (9, 2^nd).
 
Goodman is a two-time All-Southland selection in the outfield. Last season, the Marrero, Louisiana native led the SLC with 32 walks and 32 stolen bases, while also ranking among the conference's best in on-base percentage (.421, 5^th), runs (38, 3^rd) and triples (4, 5^th).
 
Watson came on strong towards the end of her first season in Hammond, claiming SLC All-Tournament honors after hitting .538 during the postseason. The Missouri City, Texas native was tied with Johnson atop the league with five triples and was on the SLC individual leaderboard in batting average (.336, 9^th), slugging percentage (.540, 4^th) and stolen bases (19, 6^th).
 
Southeastern will official open the 2024 season at the Mardi Gras Mambo, schedule for next Friday through Sunday in Youngsville, Louisiana. The Lady Lions will face Providence (2 p.m.) and UT Arlington (4 p.m.) Friday, take on Montana (3:30 p.m.) and North Dakota (5:30 p.m.) Saturday and close out the tournament versus Green Bay Sunday at 11 a.m. Live stats for all five games will be accessible via the softball schedule page at www.LionSports.net.
 
2024 Southland Preseason Poll
Team (First-place votes) | Points
1. McNeese (16) | 128
2. Southeastern (2) | 114
3. Nicholls | 97
4. Lamar | 78
5. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi | 72
6. Northwestern State | 63
7. HCU | 49
8. UIW | 30
9. Texas A&M-Commerce | 17
 
2024 Preseason All-SLC First Team
Pos. | Player | School | Cl. | Hometown
1B | Lexi Johnson | Southeastern | Sr. | Reserve, La.
2B | Erin Krause | Nicholls | So. | Cypress, Texas
SS | Reese Reyna | McNeese | Jr. | Santa Fe, Texas
3B | Haylie Savage | HCU | Jr. | Angleton, Texas
C | Bailey Krolczyk | Southeastern | Sr. | Corpus Christi, Texas
UT | Chloe Gomez | McNeese | Sr. | Spring, Texas
DP | Audrey Greely | Southeastern | Sr. | Geismar, La.
OF | Erin Ardoin | McNeese | Jr. | Moss Bluff, La.
OF | Alexa Poche | Nicholls | Jr. | New Orleans, La.
OF | AB Garcia | HCU | So. | Cypress, Texas
P | Primrose Aholelei | A&M-Corpus Christi | Jr. | Honolulu, Hawaii
P | Ashley Vallejo | McNeese | Jr. | New Waverly, Texas
 
2024 Preseason All-SLC Second Team
Pos. | Player | School | Cl. | Hometown
1B | Crislyne Moreno | McNeese | Jr. | Converse, Texas
2B | Mariana Torres | McNeese | Jr. | Pflugerville, Texas
SS | Brooke Davis | Lamar | Sr. | Keller, Texas
3B | Rylie Bouvier | McNeese | Jr. | Santa Fe, Texas
C | Ashlyn Walker | Northwestern State | Sr. | Saginaw, Texas
UT | Sydney Hoyt | A&M-Corpus Christi | Sr. | Beach City, Texas
DP | Cameron Niedenthal | Lamar | Sr. | Port Neches, Texas
OF | Cam Goodman | Southeastern | Sr. | Marrero, La.
OF | Ka'Lyn Watson | Southeastern | Sr. | Missouri City, Texas
OF | Laney Roos | Northwestern State | Sr. | Aubrey, Texas
P | Maggie Darr | Northwestern State | Sr. | Missouri City, Texas
P | Shaelyn Sanders | McNeese | Sr. | Spelndora, Texas
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information on Southeastern Softball, follow @LionUpSoftball on X and Instagram, like /SLUathletics on Facebook.
 
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.
 
TICKETS
For ticket information, please contact the Southeastern Athletics Ticket Office at (985) 549-5466 or visit www.LionSports.net/tickets. Southeastern offers mobile ticketing as the primary source for securing tickets. All tickets will be available via e-mail in a PDF format for fans to download on their phone or print at home. Tickets can also be downloaded to Apple Wallet.
 
CLEAR BAG POLICY
Southeastern Athletics has a clear bag policy for all ticketed events. For more information on the clear bag policy, visit www.LionSports.net/clear.