ECC RELEASE
NCBWA PRESEASON EAST REGION RANKINGS
NCBWA PRESEASON ALL-EAST REGION TEAMS
WEST BABYLON, N.Y. – Coming off a 2017 East Coast Conference title, the LIU Post baseball team was selected to finish second in the conference's preseason coaches' poll, and begins the season ranked fifth in the preseason National College Baseball Writers Association east region poll. Senior
Rob Andreoli was voted Preseason Player of the Year, and was named to the Preseason All-East Region First Team the league office and association announced Jan. 25.
The Pioneers earned 41 total points in the ECC poll, garnering six second-place votes and one third-place vote. Perennial powerhouse St. Thomas Aquinas College earned a unanimous first-place selection after coming up just short of the NCAA Division II title game a year ago. The Spartans also top the NCBWA east region poll, receiving eight of the nine first-place votes.
The Green and Gold ended a seven-year title drought last season when they entered postseason play as the number two seed, and defeated fourth-seeded Molloy College, 9-7 in the championship game, to capture the conference crown. The Pioneers went on to win two games during the NCAA Tournament to close out the campaign with a 32-20 overall record.
Reigning ECC Player of the Year and first team All-East Region member,
Rob Andreoli, returns as a key centerpiece to the LIU Post lineup. Andreoli finished the 2017 slate ranking second in the ECC in in runs batted in (44), second in doubles (15), fourth in batting average (.346), fourth in runs (42), and fourth in stolen bases (22). On top of his American Baseball Coaches Association All-Region selection, he earned Eastern College Athletic Conference Division II Player of the Year honors, and was recognized in the preseason voting by the league coaches with the Preseason Player of the Year nod, along with the Preseason All-East Region selection.
Although it may not feel like baseball weather in the northeast, the 2018 season is just three weeks away as the Pioneers will begin the season in Gaffney, S.C. at the Limestone Classic, Feb. 16 when they take on the host Saints at 4:00 p.m.
| 2018 ECC PRESEASON POLL |
|
2018 NCBWA EAST REGION POLL |
| 1. |
St. Thomas Aquinas College (7) |
|
1. |
St. Thomas Aquinas College (8) |
| 2. |
LIU Post |
|
2. |
Southern New Hampshire University (1) |
| 3. |
Molloy College |
|
3. |
University of New Haven |
| T4. |
University of Bridgeport |
|
4. |
Felician University |
| T4. |
Queens College |
|
5. |
LIU Post |
| 6. |
New York Institute of Technology |
|
6. |
Franklin Pierce University |
| 7. |
Mercy College |
|
7. |
Le Moyne College |
|
|
|
8. |
Wilmington University |
|
|
|
9. |
Southern Connecticut State University |
|
|
|
10. |
Pace University |