LOUISVILLE, Ky.//FOREST, Va. -- The National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) announced the 2023 Division III Top 25 Preseason Coaches Poll earlier this week and the Marlins of Virginia Wesleyan University were selected seventh in the preseason rankings. Additionally, the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Coaches Poll came out with the Marlins as the preseason favorite to win the Championship crown. 

The Marlins went 36-13 during the 2022 season advancing to the NCAA Super Regional against Christopher Newport. En route to the Super Regional, VWU won their sixth consecutive Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Championship Title and went North to win the Amherst, Massachusetts regional pod.

Heading into the 2023 slate, Virginia Wesleyan has a full schedule fo 40 games including 25 at their home field of Tom & Betty Broyles Field at TowneBank Park in Virginia Beach, Va. Twenty of the forty game slate are against ODAC opponents. Ten games will be against teams ranked in the preseason top-20 including doubleheaders against No. 1 Christopher Newport, No. 3 Salisbury, and No. 10 Randolph-Macon, and single games against No. 2 Trine, No. 6 Belhaven, No. 8 Millikin, and No. 19 Birmingham-Southern. 

VWU's roster is one of the largest in program history with 28 student-athletes on the line-up card. Breaking down the team by class there are three seniors, four juniors, ten sophomores, and eleven first years. Leading the team this year are seniors Brooke Anderson (OF), Madison Hudson (IF), and Caitlin Myers (C). The upperclassmen also include four juniors in Abigail Craige (C/IF), Emily Halloway (IF), Julia Piotrowski (OF/P), and Emily Seale (P).

The Marlins open their season on Saturday, February 25, when they host the Avenging Angels of Meredith College at Tom & Betty Broyles Field at TowneBank Park in Virginia Beach, Va, for a doubleheader. Game times are set for 1:30 PM and 3:30 PM.