JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Just a week before the 2025 Softball season gets underway, the ASUN conference has announced preseason accolades for the upcoming season, seeing two Colonels receiving All-Conference nods.

Maddi Rutan and Jaelin Haynes have been selected to the Preseason All-ASUN team with Rutan at pitcher and Haynes at outfield. Rutan was also named the ASUN Preseason Pitcher of the Year to add to her list of accolades.

In addition, the Colonels were voted in a three-way tie for first-place in the preseason poll at 129 points, tying with North Florida and FGCU with the Colonels receiving the most first-place votes with five.

Haynes is coming off a 2024 season that saw her named First Team All-ASUN. With 41 starts in the outfield, she recorded 53 putouts with just three errors over the course of the season for a fielding percentage of .947. Haynes was also a force in the batter's box, ending the season second-place in the conference in batting average at .385 as she racked up 47 hits and 11 RBIs with a .492 SLG.

Rutan saw a breakout freshman season in 2024, earning a number of accolades including ASUN Pitcher of the Year, ASUN Freshman of the Year, First Team All-ASUN and ASUN All-Freshman Team. Coming up to the 2025 season, Rutan was also named the No. 8 dual threat player in NCAA Division I by D1Softball. Rutan made 37 appearances on the mound and 52 appearances in the batter's box over 2024. Her pitching stats include 158 strikeouts on 708 batters faced over 180.2 innings pitched, allowing an opponent batting average of just .188 and a 2.09 ERA.

Last season, the Colonels collected a record of 42-10 and 21-3 in conference play en route to their first-ever ASUN regular season title. It was the most overall wins for the program since 2018 and the most conference wins since 2004.

Preseason Player of the Year: Allison Benning, North Florida
Preseason Defensive Player of the Year: Madi Young, Central Arkansas
Preseason Pitcher of the Year: Maddi Rutan, EKU
 
Preseason All-ASUN Team
Name                        Pos.        School
Maddi Rutan                P               EKU
Allison Sparkman         P              FGCU
Averi Harcus                C              Jacksonville
Kirsten Caravaca         C              North Florida
Kylie Griffin^                 IF             Central Arkansas
Kylie Campbell             IF             Austin Peay
Briley Dover                  IF             North Alabama
Hailey Jones                 IF             North Alabama
Jaelin Haynes              OF            EKU
Avery Viancos              OF            FGCU
Madison Bratek            OF           Jacksonville
Allison Benning^        UT/DP        North Florida

Preseason Coaches Poll
Pl.     Team (1st Votes)     Points
1.       EKU (5)                      129
1.       FGCU (4)                   129
1.       North Florida (2)        129
4.       Central Arkansas (1)  108
5.       North Alabama            97
6.       Jacksonville                74
7.       Austin Peay                71
8.       Queens                       50
9.       Lipscomb                    48
9.       Stetson                       48
11.      Bellarmine                  35
12.     West Georgia              17