2010 Peach Belt Conference Softball Preseason Release

AUGUSTA, Ga. - The USC Aiken softball team was picked to finish sixth in the Peach Belt Conference softball preseason coaches poll, which was released on Wednesday from the league office.

The North Georgia Lady Saints were selected as the team to beat in the 2010 softball season. The Lady Saints received nine of a possible 10 first-place votes to finish with 99 points, outdistancing Francis Marion in second place. Augusta State and GCSU were tied for third while Armstrong Atlantic State was fifth, one point ahead of USC Aiken in sixth. Coaches were not permitted to rank their own team

Coming off one of the best seasons in USC Aiken softball's history, a lot will be expected of Head Coach Jerry Snyder and the 2010 Pacer squad this season as the 2009 season saw numerous records broken, and a new level of expectation set for Coach Snyder's teams. Coach Snyder is used to having squads faced with following up stellar performances and will look for the 2010 edition of the Pacer softball team to match and hopefully exceed last year's performance.

The 2009 team started off slow, winning four of the first nine games before going on an eight game winning streak and finishing the season with a 34-16 over-all record en route to finishing a program-best 12th in the final National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division II Top 25 poll of 2009. The 2009 squad also achieved something no other Pacer squad had done before by advancing to the NCAA Division II Tournament before bowing out to Georgia College & State in its second game of the NCAA Regional Tournament.

"We changed our coaching strategy last year and went back to the old school way, hard nose, 100% effort or you go home, and it would be a matter of how long it would take for the players to buy into it," Coach Snyder said.  "The first couple weeks were rough, but finally they bought into it and everything started clicking and away we went.  Once that happened, we were successful with it.  So we're going to stick with that this year."

The Pacers' 34 victories tied them for second most wins in a single season in program history and helped the 2009 squad to the program's best winning percentage (.680).  The 2009 Pacers also matched the 2006 team's school record for the fewest runs allowed in a single season (139) and were second only to the 2000 team (.962) in fielding percentage (.961).

The Pacers enter the 2010 season looking to keep up the pace set in previous seasons and are hoping to post the program's eighth 30-plus win season and the program's 16th 20-plus win season.  To do so, the 2010 edition of the Pacer squad will look to replace five players, two of whom were key starters during all four of their years at USC Aiken.

Snyder noted, "We want to focus on winning our first game, then we'll look to winning the second game.  We are going to take it one game at a time, then when we get closer, we'll start thinking about winning the conference tournament, then the region tournament, then the super regional tournament."

Coach Snyder and the Pacers return 11 letter-winners, including three players who started in all 50 games for the Pacers last season.  Add to that bringing eight newcomers into the fold, and you can be sure the 2010 squad will look to gain their stride early on. Spots two through six in the preseason poll were separated by a mere five points.

North Georgia is coming off their most successful season ever as they won the PBC regular season and tournament titles, took the NCAA Southeast Region crown, were ranked No. 1 in the nation and advanced to the semifinal round of the World Series. North Georgia returns eight starters from the 2009 team.

Francis Marion welcomes back six letterwinners, including three position starters, the designated player, and one starting pitcher, from the 2009 squad that finished 32-19.

Augusta State returned to the NCAA tournament last year and have made the postseason field in two of the last three years. For 2010 the Lady Jaguars return six starters among their position players and three of the top four pitchers from last season's squad that posted a 34-21 record.

GCSU made their fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance in 2009 after finishing second in the PBC standings and a 32-24 overall record.

Several changes are in store for the 2010 season including the addition of Flagler College, coached by Kristen Overton who played for four years at North Florida, winning two PBC titles.

The PBC tournament format has also changed, with only the top eight teams advancing to the championship April 16-18 in Florence, S.C.

USC Aiken opens its 2010 campaign by playing host to the 2010 Pacer Invitational, which will feature West Virginia Wesleyan, Alderson-Broaddus and Augusta State in addition to the Pacers. The two-day tournament on Saturday, Feb. 6 and Sunday, Feb. 7 will feature the Pacers playing a doubleheader each day. On Saturday, Feb. 6, USC Aiken will take on West Virginia Wesleyan at 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. before Augusta State and Alderson-Broaddus play a twinbill directly after, beginning at 2 p.m.

The final day of the Pacer Invitational will begin at 12 p.m. on Sunday with the Pacers hosting a doubleheader with Alderson-Broaddus. Augusta State will play a doubleheader with West Virginia Wesleyan following USC Aiken's twinbill with Alderson-Broaddus.

2010 PBC Preseason Softball Poll