Braves To Begin 2012 Campaign Among Nation’s Top 10
OMAHA, Neb. – UNCP will have some lofty preseason hype to live up to beginning in February as the Braves checked in at No. 8 in the College Baseball Lineup Preseason Top 30 Poll released via Twitter by the online college baseball publication on Thursday morning.
The Black & Gold joined three other Peach Belt Conference teams in the listing, including top-ranked Francis Marion, No. 23 Columbus State and No. 27 Armstrong Atlantic. NCAA Southeast Region rivals Mount Olive (No. 15) and Catawba (25) also appeared in the ranking, while Wingate and Georgia College were both revealed as teams that "just missed" being included in the poll.
The 2011 edition of the Braves became the first squad in school history to qualify for the NCAA postseason after booking a 44-12 record and their first PBC Tournament championship. UNCP posted wins in 11 of its final 13 games, including an 11-game winning streak that began in late April and carried through to the semifinals of the NCAA Southeast Regional in Mount Olive.
The Black and Gold return five position starters from last year's club, including all-region centerfielder Josh Haley who posted a .354 batting average with 26 extra-base hits (8 HR), 43 RBI and a team-best 61 runs scored. Haley was also 29-of-31 on stolen base attempts and registered a .982 fielding percentage in 56 starts in the outfield.
The Braves also welcome back two significant arms from its pitching staff, including all-American, Tino Martinez Award finalist and PBC Tournament MVP Braxton Lewis who tallied a 7-1 record with a 0.38 ERA with nine saves in 26 appearances and 47 innings of work. Wins leader Brad Isom returns as well after grabbing a team-best 10 wins (10-4) last season while registering a 3.14 ERA in a staff-high 91-2/3 innings from the hill.
UNCP will open up the 2012 campaign on February 4 when the squad opens up a three-game road series at Anderson. The Braves will make their home debut four days later against Chowan at Sammy Cox Field.
For more information, including team-by-team notes, on the 2012 Preseason Poll, visit the online magazine's official website at http://www.collegebaseballlineup.com/.
2012 COLLEGE BASEBALL LINEUP PRESEASON TOP 30
(2011 Record In Parentheses)
1. Francis Marion (41-16)
2. Tampa (36-17)
3. Southern Connecticut State (45-9-1)
4. St. Mary's (47-10)
5. Barry (40-17)
6. Millersville (44-12)
7. Winona State (42-18)
8. UNC Pembroke (44-12)
9. North Alabama (37-14)
10. Grand Valley State (52-5)
11. St. Cloud State (43-11)
12. Southern Arkansas (36-16)
13. Incarnate Word (37-18)
14. Central Missouri (45-8)
15. Mount Olive (47-10)
16. Cal Poly Pomona (36-23)
17. Southern Indiana (37-19)
18. Franklin Pierce (40-14)
19. West Florida (52-9)
20. UC San Diego (42-15)
21. Minnesota State (40-12)
22. Mercyhurst (42-12)
23. Columbus State (32-19)
24. Emporia State (43-12)
25. Catawba (41-15)
26. Florida Southern (32-15)
27. Armstrong Atlantic (35-17)
28. UMass Lowell (37-14)
29. Mesa State (35-21)
30. West Chester (22-21)