SELINSGROVE , PA – The Susquehanna University softball team has been picked to finish third in the Commonwealth Conference preseason coaches' poll, the conference office announced Friday.

The Crusaders were fourth in the conference in 2006 with an 8-6 mark and finished 22-12 overall for fifth-year head coach Kathy Kroupa, who was named Commonwealth Conference Coach of the Year for leading the team to the playoffs.

Senior shortstop Sarah Shaffer is the reigning conference Player of the Year after hitting .422 with a school-record six home runs and 25 runs batted in last season, while junior third baseman Megan McCurley (.333, seven doubles) and senior catcher Kerri Brugger (.333, three homers, 30 runs batted in) were second-team selections.

Defending champion Moravian and runner-up Lebanon Valley share the top spot in the preseason poll with four first-place votes and 46 points, followed by Susquehanna (32 points), Messiah (29 points), Albright (25 points), Widener (21 points), Elizabethtown (13 points) and Juniata (11 points).