The Long Beach State softball team has quietly become the most consistently good team on campus.
The 49ers have finished in the top two of the Big West Conference three years in a row, and this year doesn’t figure to end up any differently.
Ranked second in the Big West preseason coaches poll, LBSU will face the same obstacle to winning the conference and making it to the NCAA tournament as last year: Hawaii.
Fortunately for the 49ers, a lot of their lineup will look familiar. Seven big contributors are returning on offense, including the reigning Big West Offensive Player of the Year, shortstop Shayna Kimbrough.
The same can’t be said for Hawaii. The Rainbow Wahine are still favored to win the Big West, but they will have to do it without the trio of All-Americans that kept Hawaii in the rankings for most of the 2013 season.
Kelly Majam, Kaia Parnaby and Jessica Iwata all graduated, but fellow All-Big West first teamers Kayla Wartner, Jazmine Zamora and Keiki Carlos return, forming a formidable nucleus for Hawaii to pursue a second straight Big West title with.
The 49ers’ mid-April series with the Wahine may have a significant impact on the fate of their season, but they will have plenty of challeges before then. They will take on five ranked teams over their nonconference schedule, giving them an opportunity to improve upon their “receiving votes” status.
For the first time in a couple year, LBSU may be prepared to take advantage of that.
In previous years, questions about pitching forced Erin Jones-Wesley to shoulder the load in the circle early on. This year, with Amanda Hansen joning her as an established quality starter, head coach Kim Sowder has options at pitching and can distribute the workload a little more evenly.
Armed with Jones-Wesley and Hansen as well as an offense that is capable of lighting up the scoreboard, this year may be the first in a while that the 49ers are in position to make an impact on the national rankings.
Their first test will come immediately, as they will open their season against No. 12 Kentucky.