Oilers Picked Eighth in Preseason Poll
Findlay, OH – The University of Findlay softball team has been picked eighth in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) preseason poll.
The Oilers, who last year were picked seventh in the preseason poll, went on to win 31 games, second-most in the history of Findlay softball. Head Coach Danielle Lowe, now in her second year, will look to guide the team to its sixth straight GLIAC Tournament appearance after the team entered the 2016 tournament seeded seventh with an eventual trip to the tournament championship.
"We set goals, but those goals do not revolve around wins and losses. We are focusing on the little things like not chasing pitches high, keeping their eight, nine, one batters off base, things like that", said Lowe. "We are going to try and keep our highs from being too high and our lows from being too low; stay even keel. If we can do that, we will be a tough team to beat."
Findlay is led at the plate by senior Lauren Trumpler. Last year, the Tiffin, Ohio native earned honorable mention all-GLIAC after hitting .324 with a team-high 38 RBI, third-most in a season in Oilers' history. Of her 47 hits on the year, 16 were for extra bases including four home runs, the most on the team. Trumpler is currently fourth on the career-putouts list with 814, fifth all-time with 87 career RBI, and is in the top spot with a career fielding percentage of .991.
Another important piece to the lineup will be junior Destinie Keeton who played and started in the team's first 20 games last season before being forced to miss the remaining games due to injury. In those 20 games, Keeton hit at a .357 clip and drove in 13 runs while scoring ten runs. She also hit three doubles and was second on the team with three home runs.
Junior Amanda Delmonte is returning to the Oilers after a solid first year on the field in which she made 46 appearances, hit. 295, and drove in 13 runs. Delmonte showed some power last year hitting seven doubles, two triples, and a home run.
On the mound, senior Jenna Inman has earned a starting role and will pick up a bulk of the team's innings. Last year she started 13 games and made appearances in 20. She had a 3-4 record and an ERA of 4.91, a difference from the 2.85 combined ERA she posted in her first two seasons on the team.
The Oilers kick off their season on Feb. 11-12 when they head to Louisville, Kentucky to take on Kentucky Wesleyan in a four-game series.