FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WINTHROP, Mass. – Conference champions from each of the past two years have been voted atop the 2023 GNAC Softball Preseason Poll, with Emmanuel College leading the way in the North Division poll with eight first-place votes and 71 points, while reigning titleholder Johnson & Wales University (RI) was first in the South Division with eight first-place tallies and 85 points overall.
The two programs have gone head-to-head as the last two teams standing in the GNAC Tournament each of the past two seasons. EC swept JWU on Championship Sunday back in 2021, 8-0 and 10-2, before the Wildcats bounced back last spring for a 6-2 victory over the Saints in the 2022 GNAC Championship.
In alternating fashion, this year the South Division top seed will host the Saturday-Sunday phase of the six-team, double-elimination portion of the GNAC Tournament.
With 57 points in the coaches' poll, Saint Joseph's College has been picked to finish third in the North Division after
Led by Head Coach Jamie Smyth '92, the Monks earned the #3 seed in the North Division after posting a 20-18 overall record, including an 11-5 mark in GNAC play last spring. St. Joe's won a pair of elimination games in the tourney, knocking off #1S Albertus Magnus and #2N Simmons before falling to 2021 GNAC Champion Emmanuel College, falling one game short of a conference championship matchup.
Top returners for the Monks include 2022 All-Conference honorees Meredith Pence (Remington, Va.), Lydia Goodnough (Kennebunkport, Maine), and Olivia Howe (Arundel, Maine). Pence, a 2022 Second Team All-Conference pitcher, posted a 2.66 ERA with a 10-8 record and 120 strikeouts in 116 innings during her junior season. Goodnough, the Monks' center fielder, hit .360 (41-114) batting average, 29 runs, 11 doubles, four triples, two home runs, 29 RBI, and four stolen bases in 38 games en route to claiming Second Team All-GNAC honors and Howe took home Third Team accolades after hitting .386 (44-114) with 19 runs, nine doubles, a triple, a home run, 23 RBI, and two stolen bases while starting all 38 games as a junior first baseman.
Saint Joseph's kicks off the 2023 campaign with a 10-game slate in The Spring Games in Kissimmee, Florida during the college's spring break, which begins on Saturday, March 4th. The Monks open the year on March 5th at 9:00 AM with a game versus Catholic University.
Behind Emmanuel in the North Division was Boston rival Simmons University with five first-place votes and 66 points in the poll. Simmons reached the 2019 title game and last year reached the GNAC semifinals.
Following Simmons were Saint Joseph's College of Maine (57 points), Rivier University (40), Norwich University (22), and Anna Maria College (17).
In the South Division, Albertus Magnus College finished runner-up to JWU with five first-place votes and 83 points in the poll. Fellow Connecticut rival University of Saint Joseph (CT) finished in the third spot with 63 points, as USJ previously won the 2019 GNAC Championship and opens up play at its new turf facility this spring.
The rest of the South side of the poll included Lasell University (49), Regis College (42), Elms College (25), and Dean College (17). For the complete poll results, please see below.
The Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is an NCAA Division III association made up of 14 member institutions and over 3,500 student-athletes across the New England region. Founded in 1995, the GNAC annually sponsors and administers 22 championships, while balancing academic integrity, athletic opportunity and community involvement in an effort to enhance the student-athlete experience.
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COURTESY OF THE GNAC SPORTS INFORMATION OFFICE
