NEW YORK – Villanova enters the 2021 season as the favorite as the BIG EAST Softball Preseason Coaches’ Poll was announced on Monday. The Wildcats earned 62 points, including six first-place votes, to stand atop the poll, edging 2019 BIG EAST postseason champion DePaul, which tallied 55 points and three first-place votes. The BIG EAST Preseason Poll is based on a vote of the league’s head coaches who are not permitted to vote for their own teams.
 
Following the Wildcats and Blue Demons in the poll was a tie in third place featuring 2019 BIG EAST regular-season champion St. John’s, and UConn, which is returning to the conference after a seven-season absence. The Red Storm and Huskies each earned 43 points in the poll. With 40 points, Creighton rounded out the top five, followed by Butler in sixth with 30 points.  Seton Hall (seventh, 26 points), Providence (eighth, 17 points) and Georgetown (ninth, eight points) round out the poll.
 
Villanova went 14-13 in the abbreviated 2020 season after posting a 29-24 overall mark in 2019, including a fourth-place finish in the BIG EAST standings with a 9-8 record. The fourth-seeded Wildcats upset top-seeded St. John’s in the 2019 BIG EAST Championship Semifinals to advance to their first conference title game since 2003. Villanova was edged by DePaul in the final, 11-10. The Wildcats are sparked by 2019 BIG EAST Player of the Year Paige Rauch. In 2019, Rauch led almost every major batting category during the conference regular season, including batting average (.540), slugging percentage (1.060), on base percentage (.635), runs scored (20) and total bases (53). Through 27 games in 2020, she was batting .405 with 12 homers and 28 RBI, while also collecting 12 wins in the pitching circle with a 2.25 ERA.
 
DePaul went 8-12 in 2020 and 35-16, including 11-5 in BIG EAST play, in 2019. The Blue Demons, who claimed their fifth BIG EAST Championship crown in ’19, welcome back 2019 BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year Maranda Gutierrez, who guided DePaul’s defense to a team fielding percentage of .971 in league play that season.
 
After a 14-4 BIG EAST record in 2019, St. John’s claimed the regular-season crown. The Red Storm went 26-22 overall that season, and posted an 8-15 mark overall last spring. Gretchen Bowie is among the top returners for St. John’s as a three-time All-BIG EAST First Team performer. She was also the 2018 BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year. UConn went 21-29 in 2019 and 16-5 in 2020, including 8-13 in the AAC, with Olivia Sappington leading the squad with a .350 batting average a year ago, while belting five homers over 20 games. The Huskies are playing their first season of BIG EAST softball since 2013, when they finished 8-14 in conference play.
 
Creighton (13-12 in 2020; 20-24, 8-13 BIG EAST in 2019) welcomes back 2019 All-BIG EAST First Team pick Ashley Cantu, who ranked second in the conference with a .427 batting average over 22 games played last spring. Butler (15-8 in 2020; 16-32, 4-12 in 2019) was off to a hot start in 2020 before the season was cancelled, leading the league in wins (15), thanks in part to the play of 2019 All-BIG EAST Second Team selection Lauren Fey, who was batting .421 over 23 games.
 
Seton Hall finished 24-24 overall and 10-9 in BIG EAST play in 2019, and was off to a 10-14 start in 2020. Among the Pirates’ top returners is Hailey Arteaga, a 2019 First Team All-BIG EAST pick, who batted .418 in league play that season. Providence (6-11 in 2020; 30-22, 11-9 in 2019) qualified for its first BIG EAST Championship since 2013 as the Friars were the No. 3 seed in the 2019 conference tourney. PC welcomes back 2019 BIG EAST Co-Freshman of the Year Daniela Alvarez, who went 8-4 in BIG EAST play with 65 strikeouts over 79.1 innings pitched. Through 53.1 innings pitched in 2020, Alvarez struck out 32 batters. Georgetown (8-15 in 2020; 14-35, 6-13 BIG EAST in 2019) will look for big things from Mae Forshey, who batted .451 with 13 RBI and 10 doubles in 23 games played in 2020.
 
BIG EAST Softball Preseason Coaches’ Poll
1 Villanova         62 (6 first-place votes)
2 DePaul             55 (3)
3 St. John’s        43         
    UConn            43         
5 Creighton        40         
6 Butler               30         
7 Seton Hall       26         
8 Providence     17         
9 Georgetown   8