January 31, 2006

UNCG baseball picked to finish sixth in both pre-season polls

SPARTANBURG, SC – The UNC Greensboro baseball team has been selected to finish sixth in the league in both the coaches and SIDs pre-season polls as announced by the Southern Conference Tuesday. 

The Spartans, who finished fifth last season following a 17-13 record in the league, received a total of 55 points in the coaches poll and 50 points in the SIDs poll. 

College of Charleston received 86 points and five of 10 first place votes from the coaches, edging out Georgia Southern, which grabbed the other five first place votes and 85 points.  The SIDs gave the Cougars nine first place votes and 90 points. 

The coaches and SIDs each picked Georgia Southern and Western Carolina to finish second and third, respectively.  The coaches picked Elon to finish fourth and The Citadel for fifth, while the SIDs has the Bulldogs fourth and the Phoenix fifth.  The rest of the order is identical for both polls as UNCG is picked sixth, followed by Furman, Davidson, Wofford and Appalachian State.

College of Charleston won the Southern Conference regular season title last year with a 27-3 conference record and a 48-15 overall mark.  Furman, the defending SoCon Tournament champion, won last year’s tournament as the No. 8 seed.

UNCG opens its 16th season of baseball Feb. 17-19 when the Spartans travel to Athens, GA for a three-game series with SEC foe Georgia. 

AGATE:

2006 SoCon Baseball Pre-season Coaches Poll
1.  College of Charleston (5)                    86
2.  Georgia Southern (5)                         85
3.  Western Carolina                              68
4.  Elon                                                 64
5.  The Citadel                                       60
6.  UNC Greensboro                               55
7.  Furman                                            43
8.  Davidson                                          34
9.  Appalachian State                             24
10.  Wofford                                           21 

2006 SoCon Baseball Pre-season SIDs Poll
1.  College of Charleston (9)                    90
2.  Georgia Southern                              80
3.  Western Carolina (1)                          70
4.  The Citadel                                       64
5.  Elon                                                 59
6.  UNC Greensboro                               50
7.  Furman                                            48
8.  Davidson                                          35
9.  Appalachian State                             24
10.  Wofford                                           20

- UNCG -