BOSTON, Mass. — Reigning conference champions, the Binghamton Bearcats, are the unanimous favorites to take home the 2017 America East baseball title according to the preseason coaches’ poll, which was released Wednesday. The Bearcats received all six possible first-place votes and 36 points in a vote of the league’s seven head coaches, who were not allowed to vote for their own team.
Stony Brook, which lost to Binghamton in the 2016 America East title game, was picked second with 30 points, Hartford came in third with 26 points, followed by Maine with 22 points. UMBC (13), Albany (11) and UMass Lowell (6) came in fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively.
Rank Team (1st-place votes) Points
1 Binghamton (6) 36
2 Stony Brook (1) 30
3 Hartford 26
4 Maine 22
5 UMBC 13
6 Albany 11
7 UMass Lowell 9
The America East baseball championship will consist of six teams for the second-straight year and will take place May 24-27 at UMass Lowell’s LeLacheur Park. The winner will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament where an America East team has won at-least one game five of the last seven seasons.