NCAA DIII TEAMS TO WATCH
Of course SUNY Cortland, last years College World Series Camps, hold the pre-season spot at #1. But here are a few programs to keep your eye on.
Collegiate World Series.
Cortland State heads the 2017 preseason poll with 274 points, edging out Keystone who garnered 272 points in the poll. Wisconsin-La Crosse (270), La Roche College (267), and Birmingham-Southern (Ala.) (265) round out the top-five spots in the preseason rankings.
Last spring, Keystone posted a 40-11 overall record on their way to a historic postseason run. The Giants won their eighth-straight Colonial States Athletic Conference championship and 12th overall conference title in a row with a 17-7 win over Immaculata University, marking the team's 24th straight CSAC playoff victory.
Making its ninth consecutive trip to the NCAA Regional Tournament, Keystone swept through the New England Regional bracket and punched its second trip to the Collegiate World Series with a 7-5 win over Tufts University in the regional title game.
At the Collegiate World Series in Appleton, Wisconsin, the Giants advanced to the national championship series by winning its first three games before falling in the title round to Trinity University (Tex.).
Keystone, led 16th year head coach Jamie Shevchik, who was named the 2016 Mid-Atlantic Region and CSAC Coach of the Year, will open the 2017 season on Friday, March 3 at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.
With three consecutive trips to the NCAA Division III College World Series under its belt, the Emory University Baseball program enters the 2017 season as the sixth-ranked team in the country in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper's pre-season national top-40 poll which was announced last week.
264 points and sit behind Cortland (274 points), Keystone (272), Wisconsin-La Crosse (270), La Roche (267) and Birmingham-Southern (265).
Emory finished the 2016 season with an overall record of 34-12 and were ranked fifth in the final edition of the organization's national poll of the year. The Eagles are set to return 25 players from last year's World Series squad, a group that includes D3Baseball.com All-America Honorable Mention RHP Kyle Monk, ABCA/D3Baseball.com All-South Region selections LHP Jackson Weeg and DH Brian Hernandez and D3Baseball.com All-South Region Rookie of the Year RHP Billy Dimlow from a season ago.
The Eagles will face three programs that make an appearance in the preseason poll beginning with the aforementioned fifth-ranked Birmingham-Southern College. Emory travels to BSC on March 15th before hosting the Panthers on April 18th. The Eagles welcome UAA foe Case Western Reserve University (RV) to Chappell Park for a four-game series starting on March 24th which will be followed by another four-game set in St. Louis against 12th-ranked Washington University beginning on March 31st.
Emory opens the 2017 season with a three-game series against Sewanee, starting on February 11th, the first of seven straight contests at Chappell Park.
#2
Keystone
College
Courtesy of emoryathletics.com
#6
Emory
Peter Schmidt, Assistant Director of Athletics/Sports Information Director
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NCAA DIII TEAMS TO WATCH
Tucson, Ariz. – Keystone College has been ranked second in the country in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper's NCAA
Division III preseason poll. The ranking marks the highest preseason standing in program history for the Giants, who finished the 2016 season at the national runner-up at the Collegiate World Series.
The Eagles, led by Head Coach Mike Twardoski who will begin his 18th season with the team, received 264 points and sit behind Cortland (274 points),
begin his 18th season
with the team, received received received