United Athletic Conference

 

Grand Canyon will host the 2020 WAC Softball Tournament. All six eligible teams will advance to the double-elimination tournament, which will be held at the GCU Softball Stadium on May 6-9. This is the second time the Lopes have hosted the event, as they did so in 2019.

 

In a preseason vote of the six WAC softball coaches, who could not vote for their own team, Seattle U was selected as the preseason favorite to win the title. 

 

The Redhawks took the top spot in the preseason poll with 35 points and five first-place votes. Grand Canyon was selected second with 30 points and the other two first-place votes while NM State was just behind in third with 28 points. California Baptist finished with 17 points to put them in fourth place. Utah Valley was picked to finish fifth with 16 points followed by Kansas City in sixth with 13 points. CSU Bakersfield rounded out the poll, garnering eight points.

 

NM State senior catcher Nikki Butler was selected as the Preseason Player of the Year and Grand Canyon junior Ryan Denhart was selected as the Preseason Pitcher of the Year in a vote of the league's six head coaches, who could not vote for their own players. 

 

Seattle U led the way with five players selected to the Preseason All-WAC team, followed by Grand Canyon with three selections. Utah Valley and California Baptist each claimed two spots while NM State earned one selection.

 

Joining Butler and Denhart on the Preseason All-WAC Team were Madison Cathcart, Ally Choate, Carley Nance, Shianne Smith and Bailey Thompson of Seattle U; Brianna Aguilar and Savannah Tourville of Grand Canyon; Abby Doughty and Lyndsay Steverson of Utah Valley; Britanny Galvez and Caitlyn Lloyd of California Baptist.