COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs softball team has been selected to finish fifth in the 2023 RMAC Softball Preseason Coaches' Poll with 73 points, as announced by the conference office on Wednesday afternoon.
The defending RMAC Tournament champion Colorado Christian University was voted as the preseason favorite as they garnered 10 first-place votes and 119 points. Colorado Mesa University (second – 107 points) and Metropolitan State University Denver (third – 100 points) each received one first-place vote.
The preseason poll was voted on by each of the conference's 12 head coaches. Coaches could not vote for their own team.
The UCCS softball team finished the 2022 season fifth in the RMAC standings with a 27-24 overall record and a 24-16 record in conference play. The Mountain Lions earned the No. 5 seed in the RMAC Tournament, marking their first postseason appearance since the 2019 season. Their 27 wins overall were their most wins in a single season since 2019 and the team's .529 overall winning percentage was the highest since the 2014 season. Inside the circle, the UCCS pitching staff tossed a combined 338.1 innings on the season and managed to record the fourth lowest ERA in the conference at 4.14 while also notching the fourth most strikeouts with 288. On the offensive side, the Mountain Lions ranked among the top half of the RMAC in nearly every major offensive category, including the fifth-ranked team batting average (.305), fourth-ranked on base percentage (.378), fourth-ranked slugging percentage (.495) and the fifth most total runs scored with 268.
Head coach
Ricki Rothbauer-Stubbs returns 17 student-athletes from last year's squad, including three pitchers and 14 position players. She also adds six incoming freshmen to the roster, including
Elizabeth Browning,
Ella Ebert,
Brynna Frey,
Autumn Kunze,
Jayden Paulsen, and
Molly Sherwood.
The RMAC recognized three returning Mountain Lions on their Softball Players to Watch list for the 2023 season, including starting pitcher
Braelyne Crenshaw, shortstop
Solana Martinez, and utility player
Paige White.
A redshirt senior from Aurora, Colo., Crenshaw emerged as the leader of the UCCS pitching staff last season as she made 26 appearances on the rubber (25 starts) while establishing new career-highs with 150.0 innings pitched and 15 complete game efforts. Although she had some tough-luck decisions and ended the season with a 9-14 record, Crenshaw also registered career-best marks with a 3.78 ERA and 136 strikeouts to earn All-RMAC Honorable Mention accolades. Her strikeout total ranks as the ninth-most in a single season in program history and marks the third consecutive season that she has led the team in the category. With 298 strikeouts in her career, Crenshaw enters the 2023 season fourth all-time in program history for the statistic and sits just 24 behind Becca Smith (322) for third-place all-time.
A mainstay in the middle of the diamond for the Mountain Lions last season, Martinez started 50 of the team's 51 games at the shortstop position and put together yet another solid performance at the plate as she led the team with 62 hits and tallied the second-highest batting average on the team at .363. For the San Diego, Calif., native, the hits came in bunches as she tallied a team-high 18 multi-hit games. She also added 14 doubles, two triples, and four home runs to tie for third on the team with a .538 slugging percentage.
White made an instant impact on the UCCS offense as a freshman last season while splitting time at the catcher and designated player positions. A member of the All-RMAC Honorable Mention team, White started each of her 50 appearances in her debut season and posted an exceptional .352 while tying for the team lead with 13 home runs and leading the squad with her 44 RBIs. With 23 extra-base hits on the season, White ended the year with the second highest slugging percentage on the team at .648. The Surprise, Ariz., native proved clutch during the Mountain Lions' run through the RMAC Tournament, hitting .400 with two home runs and three RBIs in three games to be named to the RMAC Softball All-Tournament team.
The UCCS softball team is slated to open their 2023 season at the LCU Softball Classic in Lubbock, Texas, on Feb. 3-5 where they will play a total of five non-conference contests across the three-day tournament.
2023 RMAC Softball Preseason Coaches' Poll
| Institution (First-Place Votes) |
Points |
| 1. Colorado Christian (10) |
119 |
| 2. Colorado Mesa (1) |
107 |
| 3. MSU Denver (1) |
100 |
| 4. Regis |
95 |
| 5. UCCS |
73 |
| 6. Fort Lewis |
69 |
| 7. Colorado School of Mines |
62 |
| 8. CSU Pueblo |
56 |
| 9. Chadron State |
42 |
| 10. Black Hills State |
31 |
| 11. Adams State |
23 |
| 12. New Mexico Highlands |
15 |
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