Greensboro College Softball Picked Fourth in USA South East Division Preseason Poll

ROME, Ga.—The softball coaches of the USA South Athletic Conference (USA South) have selected Greensboro College to finish fourth in the USA South’s East Division in this upcoming season as announced by the conference earlier today.

Despite the fourth-place prediction, the Pride earned a first-place vote, finishing only one point behind North Carolina Wesleyan College and three points behind Averett University, sitting in second place.

The Pride opened 2020 with three ranked wins. Greensboro stunned the 12th-ranked University of Lynchburg with a pair of 4-3 wins in the Pride’s only home games in the 2020 season on February 23. The Pride earned a split of the 16th-ranked Randolph-Macon College on the road on March 7th in a road trip that featured perennial national contender and tenth-ranked Virginia Wesleyan University. Greensboro finished 3-1 against USA South West Division foes, though the official conference season had not yet begun. The Pride earned a February 28 sweep of Covenant College on the road and then traveled to LaGrange College the next day and earned a doubleheader split. The Pride claimed the first game, 6-4, while the Panthers claimed the nightcap, 11-4. The Pride finished the pandemic-shortened 2020 season with a 9-5 record. Conference play was three days away from beginning when the 2020 season came to a halt.

Greensboro currently sits at 6-2 overall to start the 2021 season. The Pride scored their second-straight doubleheader sweep of Lynchburg to open the season. The Pride also earned a non-conference doubleheader sweep of William Peace University and a sweep in their home openers against Randolph College.

Each divisional poll only includes votes from coaches within that particular division-only. Head coaches do not vote for their own teams in the balloting.

The 2021 USA South Softball Tournament will take place on campus sites. Due to the ramifications stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, the tournament field will be reduced to four total teams. The top-two teams from each division following regular season play will advance to the tournament.

The Pride open USA South play Saturday, hosting Meredith College for a 1 p.m. doubleheader at Latham Park.

2021 USA South Softball Coaches Pre-Conference Poll
East Division

Rank	Institution (1st Place Votes)	Pts.
1.	Pfeiffer                  (6)	48 
2.	Averett                   (1)	39 
3.	N.C. Wesleyan^	                37 
4.	Greensboro                (1)	36 
5.	Meredith	                22 
6.	William Peace	                19 
7.	Methodist 	                15 
8.	Mary Baldwin	                 8

^Defending Regular Season Divisional Champion (2019)

2021 USA South Softball Coaches Pre-Conference Poll
West Division

Rank	Institution (1st Place Votes)	Pts.
1.	Maryville^#               (6)	48 
2.	Piedmont                  (2)	44 
3.	Huntingdon	                37 
4.	LaGrange	                26 
5.	Wesleyan	                22 
6.	Covenant	                19 
7.	Brevard	                        15 
8.	Agnes Scott	                13

^Defending Regular Season Divisional Champion (2019)
#Defending Tournament Champion (2019)

Courtesy of Bryan Jones, Greensboro College Sports Information Director