COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – Coming off of a monumental season in which the Ursinus College softball team made the Centennial Conference tournament for the first time since 2012, the Bears have been picked third in the conference preseason poll and received a first-place vote.
Ursinus was the only other team outside of Haverford, which was selected first, to garner a first-place vote. The Bears (44) finished third behind the Fords (63) and Swarthmore (48).
The Bears finished as the third seed last season after being picked last in the preseason poll. After double-digit wins during conference play in the regular season, Ursinus fell to Dickinson and Swarthmore in the conference tournament.
Ursinus returns four players who made the All-Centennial Conference team last season. Leading that group is sophomore outfielder Mackenzie Brennan. Last season as a freshman, Brennan was named second-team All CC as she was one of just six hitters on the team to tally over 100 at-bats and led the Bears offense in hits (39). She also ranked 10th in the Centennial Conference in RBI (24) and sixth in batting average (.371).
Also leading the charge for the Bears offense was Amanda Ladzinski who also garnered second-team honors. As the team's primary catcher behind the plate, she scored 15 runs and had an impressive on-base percentage of .431.
Earning honorable mention laurels were Morgan Comfort and Kayla McTamney. Comfort was a standout utility player for the Bears, making plays both in the circle and at the plate. As a pitcher she posted a 5-3 record with a 3.32 ERA. At the plate, she was the third-most walked batter in the Centennial Conference and her .346 batting average ranked second on the team.
McTamney made her presence known as a rookie pitcher, tallying a 6-5 mark with 24 strikeouts and a 3.06 ERA. Her first career complete-game shutout helped the Bears to an impressive win over No. 11 Moravian before she threw a second shutout two days later as she was named CC Pitcher of the Week.
The Bears get their season started in Florida in the Spring Games before opening up at home against Alvernia on March 17. Ursinus will begin conference play shortly after on March 28 in a Centennial Conference Tournament rematch against Dickinson.