OKLAHOMA CITY – Coming off winning the program's first ever National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) National Championship, the Mid-America Christian softball team will have high expectations once again heading into the 2022 season as the Evangels were selected to finish third in the Sooner Athletic Conference Preseason Poll announced by the league office on Friday.
The Evangels received 46 points in the ranking voted upon by the league's nine head coaches, placing four ahead of Southwestern Assemblies of God (42) in fourth and 12 votes in-front of Texas Wesleyan (34) in fifth.
Science & Arts, who won the 2021 SAC Tournament was picked to win the league crown with 61 points and five first-place votes, narrowly edged out last year's regular season champion Oklahoma City, who finished with 60 points and four first-place votes.
Rounding out the bottom half of the conference poll was Oklahoma Panhandle State (30) in sixth, Langston (22) in seventh, Central Christian (15) in eighth and Southwestern Christian (14) in ninth.
Mid-America Christian is not only coming off its first NCCAA National Championship, but also turned in the winningest season in program history by going 37-14 (.725) overall and 21-9 (.700) against SAC competition to finish third on the conference standings.
The Evangels return most of its offensive firepower from last season's campaign, headlined by junior first baseman Olivia Roberts, junior outfielders Kassie Martin and Cailey Parsells, as well as junior shortstop Mikaylee Allen and graduate student catcher Camenda Osborn.
A two-time All-SAC First Team honoree, Roberts led the team last season by batting .372, the 10th-highest average recorded in a single season in the NAIA era with a team-best 40 runs-batted-in, off of three homers and 13 doubles to go with 16 runs scored. Her 58 hits last season is tied for the ninth-most in the NAIA era and became just the sixth player to reach 40 RBIs in the same time frame.
The 5-10 infielder from Mustang, Okla. played a pivotal role during the Evangels postseason run as she was named the NCCAA Softball World Series MVP after batting 6-for-9 (.667) with eight RBIs, the biggest coming on a walk-off suicide squeeze that scored Allen in the bottom of the eighth in MACU's 3-2 win over Concordia-Ann Arbor in the championship game.
The Evangels also return another strong slugger in Martin, who put up remarkably improved numbers during her sophomore campaign. The All-SAC First Team honoree tied Ashley Newman's single season doubles record with 21 while finishing second on the team in batting average (.369), second in RBIs (33), third in runs (35) while leading the team in slugging percentage (.522).
Another record setter for the Evangels in 2021, Parsells shattered the program's single season stolen bases record with 42, surpassing the previous record of 25 set in 2018 by Ribbin Dorado. Parsells also tied the program's single season triples record with four while also placing in the program's single season top 10 in runs with the sixth-best mark of 39. The All-SAC First Team honoree boasted the team's third-highest batting average (.328).
Mid-America Christian is also expecting some big time production from Allen and Osborn, who were two pivotal performers during MACU's NCCAA Championship run.
Allen, a junior shortshop from Moore, Okla., led the team in runs scored (41), which is the fifth-most in a single season in the NAIA era. Her36 stolen bases surpassed Dorado for the second-most in one campaign, placing only behind Parsells. Allen provided a tough out for opposing pitchers as her 25 walks were the fourth-most drawn by a MACU batter in the same time frame.
The 5-4 infielder came up with three incredibly clutch plays in the NCCAA National Championship when she threw out the go-ahead runner at the plate in the top of the sixth before hitting a leadoff single, stealing second and after being sacrificed to third, scored the winning run on Roberts' suicide squeeze in the bottom of the eighth. Allen also drove in a run by smacking the go-ahead solo home run, the first of her career in the bottom of the third to give the Evangels a 2-1 lead at the time.
Outside of Allen and Roberts, Osborn was the only other player for the Evangels to record an RBI in that NCCAA Championship game as she smashed the leadoff home run in the bottom of the third to tie the game at 1-1. Osborn will provide some strong leadership for the Evangels behind the plate as a three-year starter at catcher.
While the Evangels did lose two All-American pitchers in Katie Long and Regan Martin, MACU will be looking for some strong leadership from Adrienne Phillips, Rachel Eggleston and Avery Schneringer in the circle.
Phillips, a 5-9 senior from Little Axe, Okla., boasted some of her best pitching numbers in her four-year MACU career, finishing with a 1.95 ERA in 14.1 innings of relief. Phillips holds an 8-3 career record with a 2.52 ERA in 36 appearances.
While seeing limited action last season, Eggleston tossed two strong innings, allowing just one unearned run on two hits and two walks with four strikeouts in two innings of work against Oklahoma Wesleyan before a season-ending knee injury shut her down for the rest of the 2021 campaign.
Schneringer, who provided a huge spark for the Evangels with the bat over the last half of 2021, also showed solid potential in her two pitching appearances by giving up only two unearned runs on a hit, a walk and a strikeout over a pair of innings. The 5-7 Blanchard, Okla. product threw a three-up, three-down inning against national powerhouse Oklahoma City on Apr. 6.
On top of a strong returning cast, the Evangels will be expecting some big time production from 17 newcomers who will be joining the MACU softball program for the 2022 season.
Mid-America Christian will officially open the campaign on Saturday, Feb. 12 as the Evangels will host Kansas Wesleyan for a 1 p.m. doubleheader at Allen Field.
