NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – Saint Louis has been tabbed the preseason favorite to win the 2018 Atlantic 10 Conference Baseball race, according to the preseason poll conducted by the league’s 13 head coaches and released on Thursday.
Saint Louis recorded a total of 157 points with six first-place votes to claim the top spot. The Billikens enter the 2018 season having won four of the last six A-10 regular season titles. Pitching staff ace and All-Conference selection Miller Hogan returns to lead the SLU battery.
Last year’s regular season champion VCU finished second in the poll with 153 points and three first-place votes. The Rams return 2017 A-10 Rookie of the Year Paul Witt and All-Rookie selection Steven Carpenter. Rhode Island, which won the 2016 title was picked to finish third with 146 points and a pair of first-place votes.
A razor-thin margin separated fourth, fifth and sixth place, with just two votes separating the three spots. George Mason is fourth with 107 points, and Davidson, the defending Atlantic 10 champion was fifth with 106 points and two first place votes. George Washington had 105 poll points to place sixth.
Saint Joseph’s placed seventh with 95 points, while Fordham earned 92 points for the eighth spot. Richmond and St. Bonaventure finished ninth and 10th respectively. Dayton, Massachusetts and La Salle rounded out the poll in 11th through 13th.
The 2018 Atlantic 10 Baseball Championship will be hosted by George Washington at Tucker Field at Barcroft Park, May 23-26 in Arlington, Va.
2018 Baseball Predicted Order of Finish
(Number of first place votes in parenthesis)
- Saint Louis – 157 (6)
- VCU – 153 (3)
- Rhode Island – 146 (2)
- George Mason – 107
- Davidson – 106 (2)
- George Washington – 105
- Saint Joseph’s – 95
- Fordham – 92
- Richmond – 67
- St. Bonaventure – 56
- Dayton – 46
- Massachusetts – 26
- La Salle – 20
