UTSA unanimous pick to defend Southland Conference Championship
FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE
FRISCO, Texas – UTSA has been favored to win its third consecutive Southland Conference regular-season baseball championship by a vote of the league’s head coaches and sports information directors, the conference announced Wednesday.
The Roadrunners received five first-place votes and 110 points in the coaches’ poll and five first-place votes and 111 points in the SID poll. UTSA, which finished with the best conference record in both the 2007 and 2008 seasons, finished with a 39-19 overall record, tying the school record for wins. The Roadrunners welcome back 22 letterwinners, 10 pitchers and six position starters from a team that was 22-8 in league play to finish atop the West Division.
Texas State and Sam Houston State tied for second place with 106 points in the coaches’ poll. The Bobcats, which finished second in the West Division last year behind UTSA, received four first-place votes, while the Bearkats, the 2008 Southland tournament champions, received two. The other first-place votes went to Lamar, which was picked fourth with 97 points. Northwestern State was picked fifth with 78 points.
In the SID poll, Lamar, which won the East Division in 2008 with a 20-10 record, was picked to finished second with 102 points after receiving two first-place votes. Texas State was picked third with 95 points, followed by Northwestern State with 83 points and Sam Houston State with 80 points. The Bearkats managed three first-place votes.
Both polls had the same order of finish for the sixth- through 12th-place teams. UT Arlington was pikced sixth, followed by Southeastern Louisiana, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Central Arkansas and Stephen F. Austin to round out the top 10. McNeese State was picked 11th and Nicholls State was picked 12th.
The Southland played in divisions the last two seasons, but this year, the conference will go back to round-robin play with the 12 teams playing each of the other 11 teams in a three-game series.
The opening day of the season is Friday, Feb. 20 with conference play beginning just two weeks later on March 6. The Southland Conference tournament will be played May 20-23 at Whataburger Field in Corpus Christi, Texas.
Preseason Polls
Coaches
Pl.
School
Pts.
1.
UTSA (5)
110
2.
Texas State (4)
106
Sam Houston State (2)
106
4.
Lamar (1)
97
5.
Northwestern State
78
6.
UT Arlington
63
7.
Southeastern La.
62
8.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
57
9.
Central Arkansas
36
10.
Stephen F. Austin
35
11.
McNeese State
28
12.
Nicholls State
14
Sports Information Directors
Pl.
School
Pts.
1.
UTSA (5)
111
2.
Lamar (2)
102
3.
Texas State (2)
95
4.
Northwestern State
83
5.
Sam Houston State (3)
80
6.
UT Arlington
64
7.
Southeastern Louisiana
61
8.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
49
9.
Central Arkansas
42
10.
Stephen F. Austin
33
11.
McNeese State
31
12.
Nicholls State
19
First-Place Votes in Parentheses
