NKU was a competitive D2 team that has been D1 for two years. The A-Sun is regarded as a top mid-major softball conference. The majority of NKU's roster was recruited for D2. They still have two years left before they are post-season eligible. Almost half of the team graduated, so there are seven or eight new faces on the roster for this coming school year.
It will probably be another tough year for NKU. I can't comment on injuries since I'm not in the injury loop, but until the roster rolls over to complete D1 post-season eligible talent they will have a tough time competing with the other teams that have rosters full of D1 post-season eligible talent.
I agree that the current roster had a good list of talent but one truly needs to compare apples with apples. The majority of the current roster made it to the D2 Super Regionals. However, after watching several of the A-Sun teams in action, it is an entirely different animal.