Softball Picked Seventh in Ivy League Preseason Poll
2/5/2020 10:37:00 AM | Softball
PRINCETON, N.J. – Brown University softball was picked to finish seventh in the 2020 Ivy League Softball Preseason Media Poll, the Ivy League conference office announced on Wednesday.
2020 Ivy League Softball Preseason Media Poll
Columbia claimed the top spot in the poll with 120 points and 10 first-place votes. Penn came in second with 112 points and four first-place votes. Harvard (91 points, two first-place votes) and Dartmouth (76 points) filled out the top half of the poll. Princeton (65 points), Yale (60), Brown (32), and Cornell (27) rounded out the poll.
Senior shortstop Kaitlin Okimoto (Burbank, Calif.) and senior pitcher Emily Waters (Northridge, Calif.) will serve the Bears as captains in 2020 while Brown also returns sophomore All-Ivy pitcher Lauren Innerst (San Jose, Calif.).
Okimoto started all 84 of the Bears' games at shortstop over her first two seasons before missing the majority of her junior year due to injury. As a sophomore, she led the team in runs (21) and ranked third on the team in hits (36) and doubles (six). As a freshman she paced the team in runs (33), walks (22), and on-base percentage (.423), while ranking second on the team in batting average (.326), hits (45), home runs (six), RBIs (25), and stolen bases (four).
Waters has pitched 235.0 innings in her career and has appeared in 64 career games. As a junior, she ranked eighth in the Ivy League in innings pitched (108.0) and ninth in strikeouts caught looking (16), while posting a 4.54 ERA and 36 strikeouts. A three-time NFCA Scholar-Athlete honoree, she posted a 4.33 ERA over 97.0 innings as a sophomore.
A two-time Ivy League Rookie of the Week last year, Innerst ranked third in the Ivy League in strikeouts (70), first in strikeouts caught looking (29), seventh in ERA (3.02), and seventh in innings pitched (109.0). During conference play, she stood second in the Ancient Eight in strikeouts (44), second in strikeouts caught looking (14), fourth in innings pitched (69.2), and ninth in ERA (3.32).
Brown opens its 2020 season at the Tournament at the Beach at UNC Wilmington. Over the weekend, Brown will face UNCW (Feb. 21, 3:00 p.m.), George Washington (Feb. 21, 5:30 p.m.), UNCW (Feb. 22, 10:00 a.m.), Eastern Kentucky (Feb. 22, 5:30 p.m.), EKU (Feb. 23, 10:00 a.m.), and UNCW (Feb. 23, 12:30 p.m.).
2020 Ivy League Softball Preseason Media Poll
Columbia claimed the top spot in the poll with 120 points and 10 first-place votes. Penn came in second with 112 points and four first-place votes. Harvard (91 points, two first-place votes) and Dartmouth (76 points) filled out the top half of the poll. Princeton (65 points), Yale (60), Brown (32), and Cornell (27) rounded out the poll.
Senior shortstop Kaitlin Okimoto (Burbank, Calif.) and senior pitcher Emily Waters (Northridge, Calif.) will serve the Bears as captains in 2020 while Brown also returns sophomore All-Ivy pitcher Lauren Innerst (San Jose, Calif.).
Okimoto started all 84 of the Bears' games at shortstop over her first two seasons before missing the majority of her junior year due to injury. As a sophomore, she led the team in runs (21) and ranked third on the team in hits (36) and doubles (six). As a freshman she paced the team in runs (33), walks (22), and on-base percentage (.423), while ranking second on the team in batting average (.326), hits (45), home runs (six), RBIs (25), and stolen bases (four).
Waters has pitched 235.0 innings in her career and has appeared in 64 career games. As a junior, she ranked eighth in the Ivy League in innings pitched (108.0) and ninth in strikeouts caught looking (16), while posting a 4.54 ERA and 36 strikeouts. A three-time NFCA Scholar-Athlete honoree, she posted a 4.33 ERA over 97.0 innings as a sophomore.
A two-time Ivy League Rookie of the Week last year, Innerst ranked third in the Ivy League in strikeouts (70), first in strikeouts caught looking (29), seventh in ERA (3.02), and seventh in innings pitched (109.0). During conference play, she stood second in the Ancient Eight in strikeouts (44), second in strikeouts caught looking (14), fourth in innings pitched (69.2), and ninth in ERA (3.32).
Brown opens its 2020 season at the Tournament at the Beach at UNC Wilmington. Over the weekend, Brown will face UNCW (Feb. 21, 3:00 p.m.), George Washington (Feb. 21, 5:30 p.m.), UNCW (Feb. 22, 10:00 a.m.), Eastern Kentucky (Feb. 22, 5:30 p.m.), EKU (Feb. 23, 10:00 a.m.), and UNCW (Feb. 23, 12:30 p.m.).
| 2020 Ivy League Softball Preseason Media Poll | ||
| Predicted Order of Finish | ||
| First-Place Votes in Parentheses | ||
| Rank | School | Points |
| 1. | Columbia (10) | 120 |
| 2. | Penn (4) | 112 |
| 3. | Harvard (2) | 91 |
| 4. | Dartmouth | 76 |
| 5. | Princeton | 65 |
| 6. | Yale | 60 |
| 7. | Brown | 32 |
| 8. | Cornell | 27 |
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