2016 SIU Edwardsville Cougars softball team
The 2016 SIU Edwardsville Cougars softball team represented Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) during the 2016 NCAA Division I softball season. The Cougars, led by twenty-eighth year head coach Sandy Montgomery, played their home games at Cougar Field on the SIUE campus as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC). Preseason Ten players returned from the 2015 squad that finished with a 43–16 overall record (20–6 in the OVC) and won the OVC regular season championship. They were joined by six freshmen and three transfer students, It was announced in the fall that the 2015 OVC Pitcher-of-the-Year Haley Chambers had left school for personal reasons. The Cougars were picked by the coaches and sports information directors of the Ohio Valley Conference to finish fourth in the conference. Regular season The Cougars opened the season with their usual extended on-the-road schedule. They were 2–3 in the Florida Atlantic Kick-Off Classic in Boca Raton, Florida. At South Alabama's Mardi Gras Invitational in Mobile, Alabama, they were 1–3. In Spartanburg, South Carolina for USC Upstate's Spartan Invitational, they were 2–2. They also lost at South Carolina and two at Western Carolina before their home opener, a nine inning win over Drake. Three