The Embry-Riddle baseball team is on top of the preseason conference poll
Embry-Riddle Tops Preseason Poll
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle Eagles have been picked as the favorite to claim the 2011 Sun Conference baseball regular season title according to the preseason coaches’ poll released on Tuesday. The Eagles received eight first place votes and garnered 89 points from the nine league coaches.
Embry-Riddle won the regular season and tournament title for the third consecutive year in 2010, finishing at 21-6 in the conference and 47-19 overall. They defeated St. Thomas in the NAIA National Championship Opening Round to advance to the NAIA World Series, where they finished third.
South Carolina Beaufort (77 points) and St. Thomas (67 points) each advanced to the championship game of the NAIA National Championship Opening Round in 2010, and were picked to finish second and third, respectively in this year’s conference clash. USCB, the only other team to receive a first place vote in the 2011 poll, finished as the league runner-up in 2010 (39-15 overall, 19-7), while St. Thomas (34-31 overall, 14-13) finished fifth in the league in 2010.
SCAD Savannah (63 points), Warner (55 points), Florida Memorial (37 points), Southeastern (35 points), Webber International (25 points), Ave Maria (20 points) and Northwood (19 points) round out the remainder of the poll.
Regular season play will begin during the last week of January. The top six teams at the end of the regular season will advance to the conference tournament, which takes place May 3-6 in Fort Myers, Fla. The tournament champion will receive an automatic bid to one of the nine sites of the NAIA National Championship Opening Round.