Jan. 31, 2011

LOS ANGELES – Loyola Marymount, Portland State and defending champion Saint Mary’s were tabbed as the preseason favorites for the 2011 Pacific Coast Softball Conference championship, in a vote of the PCSC’s 12 head coaches. The Lions received four first place votes in the Coastal Division poll and four to be the overall PCSC champion.

All 12 conference head coaches voted in the poll. Each head coach predicted the order of finish in both the Coastal and Mountain Division and also chose an overall conference champion. A school receiving a first-place vote to win their division scored six points, second place was worth five points and so forth.

Saint Mary’s was tabbed as the favorite to win the Coastal Division, receiving six first-place votes and 65 points overall. Loyola Marymount, led by reigning PCSC Coastal Division co-Player of the Year Sam Fischer, was picked to finish second, scoring four first-place votes and 55 points overall. Sacramento State also received two first-place votes, and was tabbed to finish third with 53 points. Following the Hornets was San Diego, CSU Bakersfield and Santa Clara.

Portland State was a unanimous choice to repeat as Mountain Division champions. Northern Colorado was picked to finish second with 49 points, followed by Utah Valley, Seattle, Idaho State and Weber State.    

Both the Lions and Vikings also received four votes each to win the overall PCSC Championship. The Gaels garnered three votes to win the overall conference title and the Hornets one.

Last season, Saint Mary’s became the fifth different team to win the PCSC Championship, since the conference’s inception in 2003. The Gaels posted a 14-4 PCSC record to claim the Coastal Division and then defeated Portland State, two games to one, to win the PCSC Championship Series. The Vikings tied a PCSC record for conference wins in a season by going 18-2 en route to capturing the Mountain Division.

Each team will play a 20-game conference schedule, playing each school within its division in a four-game series. The winners of the Coastal and Mountain Division will meet in the best-of-three PCSC Championship Series, with the winner receiving the PCSC’s automatic NCAA Tournament bid. The site of this year’s Championship Series will be at the Mountain Division winner.

Since the PCSC began play, Loyola Marymount has won the most PCSC titles with three. The Lions won the inaugural crown in 2003 and added titles in 2005 and 2007. Portland State is the only other school with multiple titles, winning the PCSC in 2006 and 2009. Santa Clara (2004), Sacramento State (2008) and Saint Mary’s (2010) have won one title apiece.

- GO LIONS -