FRISCO, Texas - With opening day a week away for the Nicholls State University softball team, the Southland Conference announced Friday it's 2022 Softball Preseason Teams and Poll.

Junior utility player Melise Gossen was the lone Colonel to land on the preseason squad, being named second team. For the preseason poll, Nicholls was voted to finish last out of seven teams.

In her third season with the Colonels, Gossen was second on the team with 16 RBIs in 2021. She posted a .233 batting average and had five doubles and three home runs. All three of her homes last year were in league play, and she also had a three-hit outing against rival Southeastern.

Nicholls received 81 points in the preseason poll, which is voted on by the league's coaches and sport information directors. The Colonels were one point behind Texas A&M-Corpus Christi for sixth place and trailed UIW (84) by three points for fifth. McNeese (132) was projected to finish first after receiving 12 of the 14 first-place votes. Northwestern State (120) tallied the other two, and was followed by Southeastern (113) and HBU (102).

Nicholls' first season under head coach Justin Lewis gets underway next Friday (Feb. 11) in the Lion Classic in Hammond, Louisiana. The opener against Alabama A&M is scheduled for 3 p.m. 

Coaches and SIDs Poll (first place votes) 

1.	McNeese (12)	132
2.	Northwestern State (2)	120
3.	Southeastern	113
4.	HBU	102
5.	UIW	84
6.	Texas A&M-Corpus Christi	82
7.	Nicholls	81