(LEBANON, Ill., Feb. 8) – The McKendree University softball team aims to have another successful year after being selected third overall in the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) preseason rankings for the 2019 season. 

Ashley Fleming, who enters her fourth season as head coach looks to once again receive a bid to the NCAA Division II National Tournament, which the Bearcats reached in 2018 for the first time in program history. "We are looking to build off of a program-best season last year, finishing 2nd in the GLVC regular season and getting our first NCAA regional bid," said Coach Fleming. Under the leadership of Fleming, McKendree also finished the regular season ranked 25th in the country.
 
The Bearcats return one D2CCA All-Region player in sophomore pitcher Miranda Gajewski (Kronenwetter, WI/D.C. Everest), who also received first-team All-GLVC honors as well as the GLVC Freshman of the Year award, becoming the first McKendree freshman to be awarded this honor. Gajewski threw a team-leading 111 strikeouts during her rookie campaign. Sophomore Haegen Boyer (Eddyville, IA/Eddyville) will also add some offensive firepower to the Bearcats this season after a freshman campaign that saw her score 36 runs, good for second-highest on the team. "We lost a couple of key contributors from last year due to graduation, but we have a core group returning and some new faces that I think will help us get where we want to be at the end of the season," said Coach Fleming.

McKendree opens their season Saturday, February 9 at the 2019 Charger Chillout in Huntsville, AL where they will first play the Reddies of Henderson State University at 1 p.m. followed by Shorter University at 3 p.m.