Conference

NAIA Preseason Softball Top 25 Poll

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Savannah College of Art and Design is ranked No. 23 in the preseason NAIA Softball Top 25 Poll.

The Bees, who are making a return to the top 25 for the first time since the 2009 preseason poll, return nine starters off last's season 22-18 squad that captured The Sun Conference Tournament and advanced to the NAIA National Championship for the fourth time in the last five seasons.

"We are proud to be back in the NAIA top 25 poll again this season," said head coach Terri Knecht. "We have nine returning starters that helped take us to the NAIA national tournament in 2009 and our goal is to climb each week in the national rankings."

SCAD will play six games against teams in the poll in 2010, including two against squads in the top five. The Bees will face No. 2 Dickinson State University (March 17) and No. 5 Lubbock Christian University (March 17) when SCAD competes at the Tucson Invitational Games in Tucson, Ariz. The Bees will play games against No. 12 Shorter College (Feb. 20), No. 16 Lee University (Feb. 19) and No. 22 Auburn University Montgomery (Feb. 20) when they travel to Montgomery, Ala., to take part in the Faulkner Invitational. SCAD will also face No. 19 Notre Dame College (Ohio) (Feb. 28) as part of the Boombah SCAD Spring Break Tournament at the Paulson Softball Complex.

The Bees will open the 2010 season Saturday (Feb. 6) with two games at the Paulson Softball Complex. SCAD will face Montreat College at noon before taking on Brenau University at 2 p.m.