ST. LOUIS -- UNI softball has been tabbed as the preseason favorite to win the Missouri Valley Conference in 2022.
In the preseason poll voted on by Missouri Valley softball coaches, UNI softball was picked first among the Valley's 10 teams with five first-place votes (93 points). Also receiving first-place votes were Southern Illinois with three (92 points) and Missouri State (77 points) and Drake (66 points) with one vote a piece. The last time the Panthes were picked first by MVC coaches was in 2014 when UNI finished the season in 5th.
The Panthers are coming off one of their best years in program history, getting UNI's first at large bid to the NCAA Tournament in May of 2021. Despite not winning out at the MVC tournament, the Panthers dominated the conference season with 20 wins and just seven losses for the best conference record in the MVC. UNI would make it to the first round of the NCAA Columbia Regional, picking up a win against Iowa State before ending the season with loses to Missouri and Iowa State.
Individually, three Panthers were tabbed for the preseason All-Conference Team. Freshman catcher Emmy Wells, redshirt sophomore infielder Kamryn Shaffer, and redshirt sophomore pitcher Kaylin Packard were all named to the preseason MVC All-Conference Team. UNI is one of just two schools to have three players nominated to the preseason All-Conference Team, with the other team being Indiana State.
In 2021, Wells started all 51 games and was named to the All-MVC First Team and the All-MVC Defensive team with a .245 batting average, a .355 on base percentage. Wells recorded 38 hits with 30 RBI and scored 22 runs, while at catcher she finished with 290 putouts, 25 assists and a .987 fielding percentage. Shaffer played 50 games in 2021 with 49 starts being named to the All-MVC first team and was a MVC Honorable Mention Scholar Athlete. Shaffer recorded a.378 batting average, a .667 slugging percentage, and a .425 on base percentage with 35 hits, six doubles, two triples, and 13 home runs.
Packard won several awards in the 2021 season including MVC Pitcher of the Year and MVC Newcomer of the Year while also being named to the All-MVC First Team and the MVC All-Tournament Team. Packard spent 29 games in the circle with a 22-7 record and a statline of a 2.04 ERA, 186 strikeouts, and 180.2 innings pitched.
The Panthers get to begin the season at home with the Doc Halverson Classic from Feb. 11-13. UNI will play five games over three days, ending the weekend with an in-state matchup against Iowa State at 3:45 p.m. Tickets for the Doc Halverson Classic will go on sale in the next two weeks and will be $10 per day.
Preseason Poll
PlaceTeam (FPV)Points
1UNI (5) 93
2 Southern Illinois (3) 92
3 Missouri State (1) 77
4Drake (1) 66
5 Indiana State 53
6 Illinois State 47
7 Bradley 42
8 Evansville 39
9 Loyola 31
10 Valpo 10
Preseason All-Conference Team
Haley Woolf, Evansville 1B
Emme Olson, Illinois State 2B
Lexie Siwek, Indiana State 3B
Daphne Plummer, Missouri State SS
Emmy Wells, UNI C
Madison Hunsaker, Missouri State UT/P
Isabella Henning, Indiana State DP/UT-NP
Bella Peterson, Indiana State OF
Jenny Jansen, Southern Illinois OF
Kamryn Shaffer, UNI OF
Sarah Harness, Southern Illinois P
Kailyn Packard, UNI P
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