DETROIT -- The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) released its 2026 Softball Coaches Preseason Poll earlier today and Wayne State was ranked fifth out of eight teams.

Defending GLIAC tournament champion Saginaw Valley State received all seven possible first-place votes and 49 points to earn the top spot.  Grand Valley State garnered one-first place and finished with 39 points.  Ferris State (37 points) and Parkside (35 points) were the next two teams followed Wayne State (21 points), Davenport and Roosevelt (18 points each) and Purdue Northwest (7 points).

The Warrior softball team enters the 2026 campaign under the leadership of fifth-year head coach Nicole Tines with 10 returning letterwinners, five freshmen and three transfers.

Sophomore third baseman Kate DeWitt was a Second Team All-GLIAC selection a year ago after batting .335, while junior catcher/first baseman Molly Hool (25 starts at 1B, and 10 at C in 2025) was solid defensively with zero errors in 172 chances to earn Honorable Mention All-GLIAC recognition.  Sophomore Elly Koopman, who played both first baseman and pitcher, had a team-high 40 RBI and posted a 3-1 record in the circle with a 3.20 ERA to also earn Honorable Mention All-GLIAC accolades.

The other returning starters are senior second baseman Maddie Hool (114 career starts at 2B), sophomore shortstop Hunter Near (started 54 games at SS in 2025), and junior outfielder Mia Hool (58 career starts in the outfield - 46 in LF and 12 in CF).

Other key members returning include catcher/outfielder Abby Barnes and catcher/designated player Kennedy Cole.  Barnes made 12 starts a season ago (9 at C, and 3 in LF), while Cole returns to the lineup after missing all of 2025 due to an injury.

The five freshmen brought in to bolster the lineup include infielder/outfielder Brooke Bunch, infielders Ellery Garver and Ella Vinco, catcher/utility Addison Cosgrove, and catcher/infielder Marin McCullough.  

Junior college corner infielder Lexi Mielke and outfielder Julia Sandles are looking to make an immediate impact on the WSU offense.  Mielke posted a .962 slugging percentage in 41 games last season for Mid-Michigan C.C., while Sandles started 33 games a year ago for Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL).

The Warrior pitching staff has two returnees from last season in junior Sydney Long and senior Hayden Batton, in addition to the aforementioned Koopman.  Long has 164 career strikeouts in 257 innings, while Batton has struck out 113 batters in 168.1 innings in two active seasons since she missed all of 2024 with an injury.

Wayne State also brought in junior college hurler Kyra Shadduck, who compiled a 49-15 mark in two seasons at Lansing Community College with 342 strikeouts and a 2.56 ERA.

The Warriors will begin the 2026 campaign with four games at the Lincoln Memorial Invitational in Harrogate, Tenn. on February 14-15.