FRISCO, Texas - Lamar University has been picked to finish fifth in the 2025 Southland Conference Softball Preseason Poll as announced by the conference Thursday morning. Big Red also has four members named to the preseason all-conference team in Aubrey Brown, Emma Wardlaw, Jayne Sepulveda, and Makenzie Wright.
 
LU received 95 points, which put them behind fourth place Nicholls by 11 points. Southeastern Louisiana (152) edged out McNeese (151) for the top spot despite both teams having nine first place votes. UIW earned 130 points and two first place votes to claim third.
 
Brown (Wylie, Texas) receives a spot on the all-conference first team at the designated player position. She appeared in 40 games while starting 30 and was 10th in the SLC in assists. Brown batted .221 with 15 hits and runs scored while driving in four runs and stealing three bases.
 
Wardlaw (Comfort, Texas) has also been chosen as a first-team member after setting new freshman records by a LU pitcher. This included a 2.06 ERA, which was ranked 13th nationally, 73 strikeouts, and a 1.28 WHIP. She finished 17th in the country in walks allowed per seven innings (1.07) and won nine games in the circle while tossing 10 complete games.
 
Sepulveda (Monterey Park, Calif.) collects a second-team preseason honor at second base. Starting 50 games, she was second on the team with a .300 batting average, which included 48 hits, nine doubles, three triples, and one three-run homer while driving in 23 RBIs. Adding four stolen bases to her season, Sepulveda had been involved in clutch moments, which included a walk-off RBI against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and scoring the winning runs against Northwestern State and UIW.
 
Wright (Pearland, Texas) earns a second-team honor at catcher. Appearing in 34 games with 32 starts, Wright collected 16 hits on the season. It was in SLC play where she was at her best, she batted .243 with two homers, five doubles, and recorded a .972 fielding percentage. She drove in seven runs and drew seven walks.
 
The 2024 Cardinals' squad finished with a record of 26-25, which placed them fifth in the conference. They will open the season at the LU Softball Complex on Friday, Feb. 7th with a doubleheader against UL-Monroe beginning at 1 p.m.
 

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