Longwood University and USC Upstate have been voted the co-favorite in the Big South Conference’s annual preseason softball poll by the league’s head coaches.
In addition, the coaches voted USC Upstate outfielder Denver Lauer (Olney, Md.) the league’s Preseason Player of the Year, and Spartans’ hurler Maddie Drerup (Fort Mill, S.C.) as the Preseason Pitcher of the Year.
It is the first time in Big South history that two teams tied for the top spot in the preseason softball ranking, as the Lancers (four first-place votes) and Spartans (three first-place votes) finished with 45 points each. Charleston Southern finished third in the poll with 34 points. Gardner-Webb and Winthrop tied for the fourth position with 21 points each, while Presbyterian College was sixth with 18 points. Radford garnered the seventh and final spot in the preseason poll with 12 points.
Lauer is the second consecutive Spartan to be voted Preseason Player of the Year. She was a Big South All-Conference First-Team selection last season, as well as an All-Tournament Team honoree. Named an NFCA Top Performer during the 2023 campaign, Lauer started all 55 games a season ago and batted .347 (58-167) with 10 doubles, two triples, and six home runs. She scored 43 runs, had 41 RBI, 90 total bases and slugged .539.
Lauer was the Big South’s top base stealer as she stole 47 bags in 49 attempts while setting the school’s single-season record for steals. She also had 66 putouts and finished the year with a 1.000 fielding percentage.
Lauer had a season-high four runs and had a season-high four RBI against Radford on April 16, in addition to a season-high three hits and three stolen bases against Presbyterian on May 5. She batted a team-best .379 in 21 Big South games with 25 hits, 20 runs, 20 RBI, 21 stolen bases and a .636 slugging percentage. Lauer received 13 points and four first-place votes in the balloting, just ahead of Gardner-Webb’s Adrienne Visintine (12 points, three first-place votes) and Longwood’s Maryanna Guy (nine points).
In her first season with the Spartans in 2023, Drerup was voted All-Conference Honorable Mention as well as to the All-Freshman Team. She was both a Big South Pitcher of the Week and Freshman of the Week honoree during the year and concluded her first collegiate campaign with an 18-5 record, 1.98 ERA, 15 complete games, 99 strikeouts and 155.2 innings pitched.
Drerup also had five shutouts and combined for a sixth. She had her best performance against Radford on April 15 with nine strikeouts in 9.0 innings to earn a 3-2 win. In conference action last season, Drerup was 8-3 with a 1.99 earned run average, eight complete games, three shutouts and 40 strikeouts in 63.1 innings. She received five first-place votes and 16 points in the voting, ahead of Longwood’s Maggie Chapin (10 points), and Presbyterian’s Jenna Greene (one first-place votes and nine points).
The 2024 softball season begins Thursday, Feb. 8, while the first conference weekend is scheduled for March 15. The 2024 Big South Softball Championship is slated for May 9-11, and the four-team double-elimination postseason tournament will be hosted by Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C. The champion receives the Big South’s automatic bid to the NCAA Championship.
PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
OF – Denver Lauer, Jr., USC Upstate
OF – Lexie Roberts, Soph., Radford
OF – Adrienne Visintine, Gr., Gardner-Webb
OF – Lauren Fox, Sr., Longwood
INF – Annicka McLaughlin, Soph., Gardner-Webb
INF – Lauren Taylor, Gr., Longwood
INF – Kaitlyn Tucker, Sr., Presbyterian
INF – Korynna Anderson, Gr., Longwood
C – Abby Wilson, Gr., Radford
DP – Maryanna Guy, Soph., Longwood
UTL – Maddie Lee, Soph., Charleston Southern
P – Maddie Drerup, Soph., USC Upstate
P – Reese Basinger, Jr., Winthrop
P – Annah Junge, Gr., Charleston Southern
P – Er’ron Burton, Jr., Longwood
Big South Conference