Jan. 27, 2004

RICHARDSON, Texas - Mary Hardin-Baylor was picked to win the West and Hardin-Simmons was picked sixth in the American Southwest Conference West Division poll that was voted on by coaches and sports information directors and was released today.

The Cowgirls are in their first season under head coach Rita Jordan and will play its first game ever on Feb. 17 at Northwood. Its first home game at the new HSU Softball Complex will be Feb. 21 against Tarleton State. The Cowgirls have 16 players on the roster for their initial campaign.

UMHB, last season's ASC West Division champion and conference tournament runner-up, collected nine of 14 first-place votes and 92 points. The Crusaders outdistanced second-place pick Texas Lutheran University, who earned three first-place votes and 80 points. Third-place pick Howard Payne University received two first-place votes (69 pts.) while last season's ASC West runner-up Schreiner University was projected at fourth-place (58 pts.). Sul Ross State University lists fifth (37 pts.) while Concordia University at Austin and HSU both list at sixth-place (27 pts.).

Preseason player of the year award winners were also named in each division. East Texas Baptist senior catcher Angela Gonzalez was voted ASC East Preseason Player of the Year while Texas Lutheran junior utility player Amy Behlen earned ASC West Preseason Player of the Year honors. Last season's ASC East Player of the Year and an NFCA All-West Region honoree, Gonzalez earned All-ASC and All-ASC East citations after batting .414 and leading the conference with 44 RBI. Behlen, an All-ASC West and conference All-Academic award recipient, led conference hitters with a .443 average and 53 hits last season.

AMERICAN SOUTHWEST CONFERENCE 2004 PRESEASON SOFTBALL POLL Voted within division by institution's head coach and sports information director First-place votes in parentheses

EAST DIVISION Pts. 2003 Records 1. Louisiana College (12) 72 34-4, 22-2 ASC 2. East Texas Baptist 59 30-12, 19-5 ASC 3. Univ. of Texas at Dallas 40 20-17, 14-10 ASC 4. Mississippi College 35 23-16, 11-13 ASC 5. Univ. of the Ozarks 28 13-21, 7-17 ASC 6. LeTourneau 18 8-26, 4-20 ASC

WEST DIVISION Pts. 2003 Records 1. Mary Hardin-Baylor (9) 92 24-14, 19-5 ASC 2. Texas Lutheran (3) 80 22-16, 13-11 ASC 3. Howard Payne (2) 69 14-24, 11-13 ASC 4. Schreiner 58 16-19, 14-9 ASC 5. Sul Ross State 37 11-25, 8-16 ASC 6. Concordia-Austin 27 2-31, 1-22 ASC Hardin-Simmons 27 First-Year Program

PRESEASON PLAYERS OF THE YEAR East Division: Angela Gonzalez, C, Sr., East Texas Baptist University West Division: Amy Behlen, UTL, Jr., Texas Lutheran University