The softball season is almost at a close and the women’s team is gearing up for another title run. The women have won the past seven Atlantic Sun championships and with their new 25th ranking in the national polls they do not seem to be stopping there.

The tournament will be held May 13-15 on the FAU Boca Raton campus. The top six teams are already a lock for the weekend, but seedings are still up for grabs.

Currently FAU is second in the conference with a 12-2 A-Sun record but it trails UCF by only two wins. The teams will play each other for the top seed May 5, the day before this article hits the stand.

Let’s take a look at the teams already in the tournament:

UCF

The Golden Knights lead the A-Sun with a 37-15 record and 14-2 in the A-Sun. Junior Lindsay Enders who has posted a 1.32 ERA and a 17-5 record leads them. She has won the only A-Sun pitching honor for UCF as pitcher-of-the-week for March 8th. As a team the Knights have a 1.77 ERA, so pitching is the anchor for this team.

Stephanie Best, who is hitting .474, holding the team high with 16 homeruns, leads the Knights’ offense. The team’s total slugging percentage is .436 but they are even more dangerous when they reach the bases. UCF has stolen 62 bases in 81 attempts.

The Knights will be looking forward to this tournament for the chance to knock FAU off on their home field. They have the talent to win this tournament and will be FAU’s biggest threat.

FAU

Candice Freel is the anchor to this FAU squad. She has posted a .78 ERA en route to a 21-7 record. With 195 strikeouts Freel has racked up 10 shutouts for the season.

At the plate, Pam Mazzarella and her .368 batting average lead FAU. What the Owls have that other teams need to be scared of is depth. On any given night a different player will get the key hit and score the winning run. FAU spreads the glory around and that could be the deciding factor in tournament play.

Stetson

The Hatters are currently third in the conference with a 43-11 record and 14-4 record in the conference. They are playing UCF as this article is being written. They will try to shake up the standings and have a good chance of doing so since they have already split the season series with FAU.

Brittani Houghton and Blake Hoorelbeke, who are the one and two pitchers on the team with a 1.22 and 1.26 ERA respectively, lead the Hatters. These two girls also are getting the job done with their bats as Houghton leads the team with a .464 batting average and Hoorelbeke is on top with 14 homeruns.

The Hatters have a chance at making this tournament a three-team hunt as they have proven each week that they are equal, if not better than UCF and FAU. The momentum could even swing their way if they sweep UCF this week.

Troy State

The Trojans are the final team at the top of the conference with a 32-26 and 14-4 A-Sun record. Players on the Trojan team have been quiet since starting the season with three players winning conference honors in the month of February. I think we will see the true Trojan team at the tournament, which will be exiting early.

Mercer

At 31-28 and 12-8 in the conference Mercer has done everything possible to try and stay in the race for the conference title. The Bears just seem to be overmatched when it comes to the top teams in this conference. They split with Stetson but lost all of their games to UCF and FAU.

Katie Rosentreter and Kerri Ryskamp lead the Bears. Rosentreter leads the team with 19 wins on the mound and 8 shutouts. Ryskamp is batting .370 with a team-leading 19 doubles.

The Bears will find it tough advancing to the second round of the tournament.

Gardner-Webb

With a 29-29-1 record and 11-9 in A-Sun action, the Bulldogs are creeping into the conference tournament. They have also split their series with Stetson but failed to win any from UCF or FAU. The Bulldogs will put up a good fight but will ultimately fall to one of the top powers in the conference.

Prediction

UCF, FAU, and Stetson will make easy work of their early round opponents. The real fireworks will begin when they start playing each other. With the experience and talent all three rosters possess, we could see round robin elimination on the final two days. Ultimately, I think FAU will, with the help of the home crowd, pull out its 8th consecutive title and make a run at a national title. Stetson will finish second, while UCF will come in third.