Teams to watch
Minnesota
Amber Fiser enters the season with more career wins than any pitcher in Division I. And yet the best may be still to come for someone who is already a Minnesota legend. Fiser has already thrown nearly 700 innings despite pitching relatively little as a freshman. She threw a lot of pitches in 2018 and 2019. And maybe some of that workload started to show in a higher walk rate and ERA in 2020 (admittedly a small sample size). But with her accumulated wisdom and a fresh arm, the rest of the country will be glad the Big Ten is set to play a conference-only regular season schedule. The offense will count on Natalie DenHartog and MaKenna Partain, but a sophomore class that includes Delanie Cox, Kianna Davis, Olivia Peterson and Sydney Strelow will be vital in diversifying the run production.
RPI: 15.
Ballpark: Carolina Softball Stadium at Beckham Field (1,277)
Postseason history: 22 NCAA Regional appearances, 2 Super Regional appearances, 3 World Series appearances.
Ace of the staff: Kelsey Oh. The senior right-hander had the 2020 season cut short with a foot injury. Oh finished 4-2 with a 2.14 ERA, 51 strikeouts and 16 walks in 32.2 IP.
Impact player: Kenzi Maguire. The graduate senior will be in her sixth season of college softball. Maguire started all 23 games at shortstop in 2020 for the Gamecocks, batting .328 with five doubles, nine RBIs, 14 walks, nine hit by pitches and 22 runs scored.
DII softball: Kutztown head coach Judy Lawes wins game No. 1,000 of her career