SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Defending Southern Conference regular-season and tournament champion Mercer has been picked to win this season’s crown in preseason balloting of the league’s media, while 2015 regular-season and tournament runner-up Samford has been selected to win the 2016 title by the SoCon’s nine head coaches in a pair of extremely tight preseason polls.
Samford edged Mercer by just one point in the coaches’ poll, picking up four first-place votes and 60 total points. Mercer grabbed four first-place votes of its own and 59 points in the preseason poll, in which coaches could not vote for their own teams. Wofford, which finished third in the voting with 50 points, had the remaining first-place vote.
Mercer had the slim edge in the media poll, claiming seven first-place votes and 119 points. Samford grabbed the remaining seven first-place votes and 117 points. Wofford finished third in that poll, as well, accumulating 91 points.
The Bears went 35-23 overall last year and 16-7 in league play to capture the regular-season and tournament crowns in their first season in the SoCon. Led by preseason SoCon Player of the Year Kyle Lewis, Mercer returns seven starters from its championship squad.
Samford finished the 2015 campaign with a 32-26 overall mark and a 14-10 record in the SoCon. The Bulldogs’ second-place league finish was their best since joining the Southern Conference in 2009, while their tournament title-game appearance was their fourth in five seasons. Samford returns all nine position starters and two starting pitchers from last year and placed a league-high seven players on the preseason all-conference teams.
Wofford turned in a 39-22 overall record and a third-place league finish at 13-10 in 2015, setting school records for wins in a season and SoCon finish. The Terriers, who reached the tournament semifinals for the second straight season, return preseason SoCon Pitcher of the Year Matthew Milburn in addition to preseason all-conference pitchers Adam Scott and Will Stillman from a staff that was second in the league with 503 strikeouts and third in ERA (4.91) in 2015.
The league coaches picked Western Carolina to finish fourth with 37 points, followed closely by UNCG with 35 points. Furman was sixth with 24 points, followed by The Citadel and ETSU in a tie for seventh with 21. VMI rounded out the poll with 17 points.
The media tabbed Western Carolina fourth with 76 points, with UNCG in fifth with 62. Furman was sixth with 50, followed by VMI (43), The Citadel (39) and ETSU (33).
The 2016 season opens for all nine league teams on Friday, Feb. 19. This season’s SoCon Baseball Championship will take place at Fluor Field in Greenville, S.C., from May 24-29.
2016 Preseason Southern Conference Coaches Poll
Place Team (1st-place votes) Points
1. Samford (4) 60
2. Mercer (4) 59
3. Wofford (1) 50
4. Western Carolina 37
5. UNCG 35
6. Furman 24
T7. The Citadel 21
T7. ETSU 21
9. VMI 17
2016 Preseason Southern Conference Media Poll
Place Team (1st-place votes) Points
1. Mercer (7) 119
2. Samford (7) 117
3. Wofford 91
4. Western Carolina 76
5. UNCG 62
6. Furman 50
7. VMI 43
8. The Citadel 39
9. ETSU 33
