USC Aiken Ranked 13th in Preseason NFCA Division II Poll
STARKVILLE, Miss. - The USC Aiken softball team was ranked 13th in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division II Top 25 preseason poll, which was released on Wednesday, Jan. 27.
The ranking is the highest ever preseason national ranking for the Pacer softball program.
After finishing second at last year's NCAA Division II National Softball Championship, the Chargers of Alabama-Huntsville were picked as the No. 1 team in the NFCA Division II Top 25 Preseason Poll.
The NFCA Division II Top 25 is voted on by 16 NCAA Division II head coaches, two representing each of the eight NCAA regions. The first 2010 regular season poll will be released on Wednesday, March 3.
USC Aiken is the second highest ranked Peach Belt Conference team in the poll. League favorite North Georgia is ranked second in the preseason poll.
Coming off one of the best seasons in USC Aiken softball's history, a lot will be expected of Head Coach Jerry Snyder and the 2010 Pacer squad this season as the 2009 season saw numerous records broken, and a new level of expectation set for Coach Snyder's teams. Coach Snyder is used to having squads faced with following up stellar performances and will look for the 2010 edition of the Pacer softball team to match and hopefully exceed last year's performance.
The 2009 team started off slow, winning four of the first nine games before going on an eight game winning streak and finishing the season with a 34-16 over-all record en route to finishing a program-best 12th in the final National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division II Top 25 poll of 2009. The 2009 squad also achieved something no other Pacer squad had done before by advancing to the NCAA Division II Tournament before bowing out to Georgia College & State in its second game of the NCAA Regional Tournament.
"We changed our coaching strategy last year and went back to the old school way, hard nose, 100% effort or you go home, and it would be a matter of how long it would take for the players to buy into it," Coach Snyder said. "The first couple weeks were rough, but finally they bought into it and everything started clicking and away we went. Once that happened, we were successful with it. So we're going to stick with that this year."
The Pacers' 34 victories tied them for second most wins in a single season in program history and helped the 2009 squad to the program's best winning percentage (.680). The 2009 Pacers also matched the 2006 team's school record for the fewest runs allowed in a single season (139) and were second only to the 2000 team (.962) in fielding percentage (.961).
The Pacers enter the 2010 season looking to keep up the pace set in previous seasons and are hoping to post the program's eighth 30-plus win season and the program's 16th 20-plus win season. To do so, the 2010 edition of the Pacer squad will look to replace five players, two of whom were key starters during all four of their years at USC Aiken.
Snyder noted, "We want to focus on winning our first game, then we'll look to winning the second game. We are going to take it one game at a time, then when we get closer, we'll start thinking about winning the conference tournament, then the region tournament, then the super regional tournament."
Coach Snyder and the Pacers return 11 letter-winners, including three players who started in all 50 games for the Pacers last season. Add to that bringing eight newcomers into the fold, and you can be sure the 2010 squad will look to gain their stride early on in the season.
USC Aiken opens its 2010 campaign by playing host to the 2010 Pacer Invitational, which will feature West Virginia Wesleyan, Alderson-Broaddus and Augusta State in addition to the Pacers. The two-day tournament on Saturday, Feb. 6 and Sunday, Feb. 7 will feature the Pacers playing a doubleheader each day. On Saturday, Feb. 6, USC Aiken will take on West Virginia Wesleyan at 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. before Augusta State and Alderson-Broaddus play a twinbill directly after, beginning at 2 p.m.
The final day of the Pacer Invitational will begin at 12 p.m. on Sunday with the Pacers hosting a doubleheader with Alderson-Broaddus. Augusta State will play a doubleheader with West Virginia Wesleyan following USC Aiken's twinbill with Alderson-Broaddus.
2010 NFCA Division II Preseason Poll
1. Alabama-Huntsville
2. North Georgia
3. Winona State
4. Dixie State
5. Indianapolis
6. Valdosta State
7. LeMoyne
8. Missouri Western State
9. California (Pa.)
10. Saginaw Valley
11. Humboldt State
12. Nebraska-Omaha
13. USC Aiken
14. Kutztown
15. Nova Southeastern
16. Metro State
17. Abilene Christian
18. C.W. Post
19. Angelo State
20. Wayne State (Mich.)
21. Wayne State (Neb.)
T-22. West Texas A&M
T-22. Mesa State
24. Carson-Newman
25. Lock Haven
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