League coaches believe that defending Great American Conference regular season softball champion Arkansas Tech University will finish second in the GAC during the 2017 season.
The preseason poll of GAC head softball coaches was released by the Great American Conference office on Tuesday, Jan. 10.
The Golden Suns received four first-place votes and a total of 112 points to finish just behind preseason GAC favorite Southern Arkansas University, which garnered seven first-place votes and 116 points.
Harding University (3rd, 101 points), Henderson State University (4th, 87 points), Southeastern Oklahoma State University (5th, 78 points), the University of Arkansas-Monticello (6th, 71 points), East Central University (7th, 70 points), Southern Nazarene University (8th, 44 points), Oklahoma Baptist University (9th, 38 points), Southwestern Oklahoma State University (10th, 34 points), Ouachita Baptist University (11th, 25 points) and Northwestern Oklahoma State University (12th, 16 points) completed the poll.
Arkansas Tech finished the 2016 softball season with a record of 49-11. Under the direction of head coach Kristina McSweeney, the Golden Suns established a new school record for wins in a season, won the NCAA Division II Tournament Central Region 1 title and hosted an NCAA Division II Tournament Super Regional.
Tech will open its 2017 softball season by participating in a classic hosted by Southeastern Oklahoma State University in Durant, Okla., Feb. 3-4.
