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LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University softball team was picked to finish fourth in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division this season, as the conference office unveiled its annual preseason coaches' poll Wednesday.
 
Reigning PSAC West top seed Gannon University earned six first-place votes and sat atop the poll. Indiana University (Pa.) garnered one first-place vote and landed second ahead of California (Pa.) in third, which took the final first-place vote.
 
Slippery Rock, which entered the PSAC Tournament as the fourth seed a year ago, was voted fourth ahead of Seton Hill University in fifth. Edinboro, Clarion and Pitt-Johnstown rounded out the PSAC West poll in sixth through eighth respectively.
 
East Stroudsburg University boasted the top spot in the PSAC East after finishing the regular season atop the division a year ago. The Warriors also nabbed five first-place votes. West Chester University, which looks to defend its PSAC Tournament Championship victory from the 2024 season, gained two first-place votes and polled second in the PSAC East.
 
Kutztown University was voted third after making a run into the NCAA Super Regional a year ago, finishing one spot in front of Shippensburg University. The Raiders claimed the final two first-place votes while stacking up fourth in the PSAC East.
 
BUILDING ON THE MOMENTUM
Slippery Rock is coming off a 25-27 season that included an 18-13 mark in PSAC West competition as well as a second consecutive trip to the PSAC Tournament for the first time since 1983-84. SRU also went 12-4 at Kasnevich Field marking the most home wins in school history.
 
Additionally, Slippery Rock set the bar high for itself by hitting more home runs and throwing more strikeouts in a single season than ever before. 11 different batters cracked 50 total home runs, while SRU's pitching staff combined for 367 strikeouts.
 
The Rock see 18 of the 22 players (81.8 percent) from last year's roster. SRU will also welcome five newcomers to form a 23-player roster for its 2025 campaign.
 
Head coach Stacey Rice will become the longest-tenured head coach in SRU softball history by beginning an 11^th season at the helm. She will once again be joined in the dugout by Stacey Herzog, who enters her seventh year as a full-time assistant coach at The Rock.
 
TIME IN THE CIRCLE
All-Atlantic Region and All-PSAC West utility pitcher Alexsa Hurd returns for her senior season at The Rock, looking to build upon an already well-decorated career.
 
The Suffield, Ohio native appeared in all 52 games for SRU last year, starting 20 games in the circle as part of her 26 total pitching appearances. The remainder of her time on the diamond was spent at second base with her bat invaluable to the order.
 
Hurd went 10-11 with one save in 2024 while garnering a team-best 2.90 ERA. At the plate, she batted .304 with 10 doubles and 10 home runs, posting a .402 on-base percentage while slugging .533, scoring 32 runs and racking up 30 RBI.
 
Hurd set the SRU record for most strikeouts per seven innings in a single season with 8.59 Ks per seven innings last year. Her 151 total strikeouts from 2024 rank third all-time.
 
Only Kelsi Anderson threw more strikeouts than Hurd last year with 160. Slippery Rock will look to fill the void of the all-time winningest pitcher in SRU history, who also went 10-11 last season.
 
Mackenzie Borkovich showcased a promising sophomore season in the pitching staff, going 5-3 in the circle while making 22 total appearances. Heading into her junior season at SRU, Borkovich made four starts a year ago. She earned her first career shutout in a 4-0 win over American International College and struck out at least five batters in four games.
 
Paige Gresgott and Alexa Uphold, who combined for 12 appearances and 13.1 innings pitched last year, are also back in the bullpen for Slippery Rock this season.
 
BACKING THE PLATE
Veteran catcher Emma Kennedy is back at Slippery Rock for her fourth season, coming off a year that included 38 starts and 43 total appearances behind the plate. The Monroeville, Pennsylvania product batted .239 with seven doubles, one triple and two homers, as well as a slugging percentage of .376.
 
Sarah Brown started 16 of the 23 games she appeared in as a freshman last year, making 14 starts at the catcher position and two as the team's designated player. Hailing from Chester, West Virginia, Brown hit .241 and produced three doubles, one home run and four RBI.
 
A VETERAN INFIELD
Slippery Rock will enjoy an infield that brings a wealth of experience as all the starters from last year are back donning the Green and White.
 
Beginning with the right side of the diamond, Julia Nutter appeared in the starting lineup in all but one game last year at first base. Now a senior from Columbiana, Ohio, Nutter hit the first eight home runs of her career last season, jumping from zero career home runs to ranking 19^th all-time in SRU history. On the year, she slugged .529 with a .399 OBP.
 
Grace Smith is back for her junior circuit at Slippery Rock after starting 35 games last year including 20 at second base. The Elizabeth, Pennsylvania native batted .219 with five doubles and a triple, hitting three home runs within a five-game window against Clarion and California (Pa.). Smith made 14 additional starts as the team's designated player.
 
Heading into her senior year, Arielle Brown is back after starting all 52 games at shortstop last season. Coming from Galena, Ohio, Brown led Slippery Rock with a .457 on-base percentage and scored 39 runs for The Rock last year, tied for fourth all-time at The Rock. Brown was also SRU's leader in stolen bases last season with 21.
 
Rounding out the left side of the infield is Aubrey Mansfield at third base, who likewise started every game last year for Slippery Rock. A native of Stow, Ohio, Mansfield's sophomore season included a .268 batting average, six home runs, 11 doubles and 31 RBI. No one went to the plate last year more than Mansfield, who racked up 164 at-bats.
 
In addition to the starting lineup from last season, Slippery Rock will welcome back Madison Davis, Olivia Logan and Paige Parker to the infield.
 
LOOKING TO THE OUTFIELD
Slippery Rock's leading batter from last year, Julia Montie, heads back to centerfield this season where she will look to pilot SRU's outfield once again. The Johnstown, Ohio native hit a team-best .306 in her junior year, leading The Rock with 13 doubles, one triple and 12 home runs. Montie begins the season with 18 career home runs, tied for eighth all-time.
 
Alyssa Sheely is also back for Slippery Rock this season, who started the first 36 games of the year before being sidelined with an injury. In the three dozen games she played in, the right fielder from New Middletown, Ohio batted .250 while generating three doubles and two home runs.
 
Returners Naomi Childs and Jeanna Sukey became familiar faces in Slippery Rock's outfield last season. Childs hit .379 and tallied a team-best nine sacrifice bunts while making 33 starts and 40 total cameos in left field. Sukey split her time between right and left field, able to add five doubles, one home run and four stolen bases to the offense.
 
Utility player Sydney Brown is also back for a second season at The Rock. Her one start and eight total appearances for SRU came in right field. Brown notched her first career hit with a double against Pitt-Johnstown, additionally scoring her first career run in that game.
 
WELCOMING THE NEWCOMERS
Slippery Rock's 2025 crew includes one transfer in Jessica Goldhardt and four true freshmen: Ali Giordano, Alyssa Massucci, Shaylyn Shall and Kayla Williams.
 
Goldhardt, originally from New Albany, Ohio, comes to Slippery Rock for her sophomore year after a rookie season with Purdue University Northwest in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The outfielder appeared in 31 games for The Pride, largely as a pinch runner. She went 2-for-5 (.400) at the plate with one RBI on the year.
 
Giordano was a standout high school athlete at nearby Neshannock High School, where she was named a first-team PIAA 2A All-State selection at second base and won two PIAA 2A Softball Championships with the Lancers.
 
Massucci comes to SRU as a utility player from Warren, Ohio. She was the captain of her softball team at Howland High School and named the school's Senior Class Athlete of the Year to go with multiple all-district accolades.
 
Shall is a left-handed outfielder hailing from Aliquippa, Pennsylvania. She attended Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School in Midland, Pennsylvania, most recently playing in a softball co-op with Western Beaver High School where she was named a Trib HSSN Softball Player of the Week in 2023.
 
Williams gives Slippery Rock another utility option for the circle. A native of Latrobe, Pennsylvania, Williams was a PIAA 5A All-State selection and a three-time All-Section pitcher at Greater Latrobe High School.
 
ON THE DOCKET
Slippery Rock's 2025 circuit covers over 3,500 miles of travel to complete a 50-game schedule. The Rock will hit the road to face Shippensburg University Feb. 22 and Shepherd University 23 to open the year in a pair of PSAC East doubleheaders.
 
The Rock will return home to host the inaugural SRU Invitational at Kasnevich Field March 1-2. Slippery Rock will welcome D'Youville University and Lock Haven University to its campus. SRU will host six total games in the two-day span with each team playing one another both days.
 
SRU will then once again participate in The Spring Games, this year heading to the Legends Way Complex in Clermont, Florida to compete in 12 total games March 8-14. The Rock are slated to play against teams from five different conferences.
 
While in the Sunshine State, The Rock will face five teams from the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, two teams from each the GLIAC, the Northeast 10 and the Great Midwest Athletic Conference, and one team from the Mountain East Conference.
 
SRU will play two more non-conference games with a doubleheader against Wheeling University March 19 at Kasnevich Field before diving into PSAC West competition.
 
The Rock start their 28-game route of the PSAC West with a trip to Pitt-Johnstown March 21. Every team in the PSAC West plays one another in two separate doubleheaders, once at home and once on the road. SRU's PSAC West home opener is lined up for March 29 against Seton Hill.
 
Slippery Rock's full PSAC West schedule is as follows:
 
Pitt-Johnstown (March 21 – Away / April 11 – Home)
Gannon (March 25 – Away / April 15 – Home)
Clarion (March 28 – Away / April 18 – Home)
Seton Hill (March 29 – Home / April 17 – Away)
Indiana (Pa.) (April 1 – Home / April 22 – Away)
California (Pa.) (April 4 – Away / April 25 – Home)
Edinboro (April 5 – Home / April 26 – Away)
 
The top five teams in each division will qualify for the PSAC Tournament in Quakertown, Pennsylvania April 30-May 3. The Rock are seeking their ninth all-time berth into the PSAC Tournament and their third consecutive trip to the conference's postseason.
 
2025 PSAC Softball Preseason Coaches' Poll
WEST (First-Place Votes)
1. Gannon (6)
2. Indiana (Pa.) (1)
3. California (Pa.) (1)
4. THE ROCK
5. Seton Hill
6. Edinboro
7. Clarion
8. Pitt-Johnstown
 
EAST (First-Place Votes)
1. East Stroudsburg (5)
2. West Chester (2)
3. Kutztown
4. Shippensburg (2)
5. Bloomsburg
6. Shepherd
7. Lock Haven
8. Millersville
9. Mansfield
 




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