TAMPA, Fla.— The Southeastern Fire, winners of their program’s first regular-season Sun Conference baseball title last spring and their first NAIA national title in 2018, have been tabbed by the league’s coaches as the 2020 favorite in The Sun Conference baseball preseason poll.
 
Southeastern received all eight of the first-place votes for which it is eligible (coaches are not allowed to vote for their own teams) and a total of 64 points to finish ahead of second-place St. Thomas (57 points) in the balloting.  Keiser (49), Webber International (43), Warner (31), Thomas (29), Florida Memorial (28), Ave Maria (12) and USC-Beaufort (11) completed the poll. St. Thomas, NAIA national runnerup last spring, received the other first-place vote.

Southeastern is coming off a 2019 season in which it posted a 53-12 overall record and a sparkling 20-4 mark in The Sun Conference. Despite failing to win the Sun Conference tournament, Southeastern moved on to sweep three games at the NAIA Opening Round in Macon, Ga., and advance to defend its national title at the NAIA World Series in Lewiston, Idaho. The Fire’s bid for a repeat fell short as they managed to go just 2-2 in the tourney with one of their losses coming to Sun rival St. Thomas.
 
The Fire was ranked No. 4 in the NAIA Preseason Top 25 Coaches Poll that was released in early November. St. Thomas came in at No. 2 in the NAIA preseason poll after its second-place finish at the 2019 World Series. Webber International earned a No. 16 ranking in that NAIA preseason list. Keiser was among other schools receiving votes.

"We’re excited about getting on the field this year with this group," said Southeastern head coach and 2019 Sun Confrence Coach of the Year Adrian Dinkel. "Up to this point this is been the most tight-knit group we’ve had since I’ve been here. We are all looking forward to seeing them compete. 

"We know we got to continue to get healthy and get some of these guys back to compete in this conference," continued Dinkel.
 
While Southeastern and St. Thomas made the 10-team World Series field a year ago, Webber International narrowly missed a trip to Lewiston following a runnerup finish (and loss to eventual national champion Tennessee Wesleyan) in its Opening Round. Despite being a No. 6 seed in the six-team field, Thomas was the surprise champion of the 2019 Sun Conference Tournament and also advanced to NAIA Opening Round play.
 
Southeastern opens its 2020 season on Jan. 30, beginning a three-game home series with No. 5 Georgia Gwinnett. St. Thomas opens play on Jan. 28 with a non-conference matchup with Sun foe Florida Memorial. Keiser also begins play on Jan. 28, playing host to Florida National. 
  
2020 Sun Conference Baseball Preseason Coaches’ Poll (first-place votes)
Southeastern                            64 (8)
St. Thomas                              57 (1)
Keiser                                     49
Webber International               43
Warner                                     31
Thomas                                   29                                
Florida Memorial                    28
Ave Maria                               12
USC-Beaufort                         11