RedStorm tabbed RSC preseason favorite

RSC Sports Information
     MIDDLETOWN, Ohio - The University of Rio Grande is the preseason favorite in the 2025 River States Conference Preseason Softball Coaches' Poll.
     The poll, announced Wednesday by the league office, saw each of the conference's nine head coaches rank the other member schools in order of predicted finish.
     Rio Grande received five of the nine first-place votes and 60 points in the balloting.
     Head coach Chris Hammond's team went 21-11 in RSC play last season, then caught fire in the month of May and won the RSC Tournament championship by sweeping their way through the bracket.
     Rio Grande qualified for the 2024 NAIA Softball Opening Round, earning one win during its time in the Indianapolis Bracket. The RedStorm have won 20 or more RSC games in each of the past four seasons.
     Shawnee State University, who went 23-9 in RSC play last season and claimed the East Division title, had three of the remaining four first-place nods and finished just one point behind Rio Grande in the poll.
     St. Mary-of-the-Woods College, who finished 24-8 in conference play last season, was picked third with 48 points. IU Southeast, which earned the conference's other automatic bid to the national tournament following a 27-5 conference record in 2024, grabbed the final first-place vote and checked in at fourth with 44 points.
     Oakland City finished fifth in the poll with 36 points, with the bottom half of the balloting being comprised by Midway University (29 pts.) in sixth, IU Columbus (20 pts.) in seventh, WVU-Tech (18 pts.) in eighth, and Brescia University (10 pts.) in ninth.
     Although some teams play countable games during the fall season, the NAIA softball schedule begins in earnest on January 23.
     The first scheduled date of conference play of is scheduled for March 4, with the schedule gearing towards the 2025 River States Conference Softball Tournament, May 1-4, at The Rock Sports Complex in South Charleston, West Virginia.