2021 RSC Softball Coaches' Preseason Poll

MIDDLETOWN, Ohio -- Indiana University Southeast has been predicted as the top team this upcoming year in the 2021 River States Conference Softball Coaches' Preseason Poll. The Grenadiers have all nine starters and their top two starting pitchers returning from a squad that started out last year at 19-2-1 overall before the season was cut short due to COVID-19.

Voting was conducted by the 10 RSC softball head coaches. IU Southeast topped the list with 79 total votes and seven of a possible nine first-place votes. University of Rio Grande (Ohio) was right behind in second with 75 total votes and the remaining three first-place votes.

IU Southeast was "receiving votes" in the NAIA Softball Top 25 before the 2020 season was cut short in the second week of March. RSC play had not begun at the time the pandemic hit. The last time an RSC Softball Championship was conducted, IU Southeast won the title as the 2019 conference champions.

Rio Grande got out to a record of 12-12 in the spring of 2020, which included 11 games versus NAIA nationally ranked opponents. The RedStorm had won four straight conference postseason championships from 2015-18 before IU Southeast ended that streak in 2019.

Point Park (Pa.) University was picked third in the preseason poll with 58 votes, which was right in front of Midway (Ky.) University in fourth with 57 votes. WVU Tech was next in fifth with 43 votes.

RSC newcomer Oakland City (Ind.) University came in sixth with 35 votes and was followed close behind by Asbury (Ky.) University in seventh with 33 votes. Rounding out the poll were Carlow (Pa.) University in eighth with 29 votes, Brescia (Ky.) University in ninth with 22 votes and Ohio Christian University in 10th with 19 votes.

2021 RIVER STATES CONFERENCE SOFTBALL COACHES' PRESEASON POLL
(First-Place Votes in Parenthesis)