The Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) announced the results of the 2022 ODAC Softball preseason poll on Tuesday morning. Roanoke received one first place vote on their way to accumulating 64 points and coming in at the #3 spot in the annual poll.
The Maroons are coming off a 2021 season that would see and overall record of 21-11 mark, including a 12-6 conference record, and a trip to the ODAC Softball Tournament semifinals, where they fell to eventual national champion Virginia Wesleyan. Roanoke returns a majority of a lineup that was responsible for 174 runs, 5.43 per game. Catcher Rachel Sirbaugh and infielder Makayla Ausitn are back after earning All ODAC 2nd team honors last year. Sirbaugh posted a .386 batting average, 7th in the ODAC. Her three home runs to go with seven doubles and two triples helped Sirbaugh to a slugging percentage of .627, ranking her 6th in the conference. Austin posted a .326 batting average and a .921 fielding percentage while playing the hot corner. She recorded 31 putouts and her 51 assists ranked 12th in the conference. Pitcher Jada Karnes will be back in the circle after earning 1st All ODAC, 1st team VaSID All State, and 3rd team All Region in 2021. The junior finished third in the conference with 14 wins and her 1.44 earned run average (ERA) ranked second in the ODAC as did her two saves. Karnes made 21 appearances and recorded 109 strikeouts in her 111 innings of work.
Roanoke will get the season started at home with a double header against Pitt-Bradford on February 26th. After a road trip to Southern Virginia, Roanoke will play four games in the 2022 Mountain Mash at the James Moyer Complex before heading to Florida for eight games over the college's spring break. March 20th will see a visit from Va. Wesleyan followed by a double-headers against Averett and Randolph-Macon to close out the month. RC will spend most of April on the road with only games against Ferrum and Guilford being played in Salem. A trip to Eastern Mennonite will wrap up the regular season on Aril 23rd ahead of the 2022 ODAC Softball Tournament, in Salem April 29th - May 1st.
