February 01, 2012

Baseball Selected Sixth in GLVC West Division Preseason Poll

INDIANAPOLIS, IND. – The University of Missouri-St. Louis baseball team has been picked to finish sixth in the West Division of the Great Lakes Valley Conference preseason poll, as announced today by the league office.

The Tritons received 53 total votes in the eight-team division.

Quincy earned 114 total points as the clear favorite in the West, ranking ahead of Drury (102), Missouri S&T (94) and Rockhurst (84) in the top four. William Jewell (55), Missouri-St. Louis (53), Maryville (38) and Illinois Springfield (28) round out the division.

Southern Indiana has been selected the favorite to finish atop the GLVC East Division standings. The Screaming Eagles just edged Northern Kentucky in total points, garnering 109 markers to 108 for the Norse. NKU enters the season ranked second in the East, followed by Indianapolis (87), Saint Joseph’s (76), Lewis (67), Bellarmine (59), UW-Parkside (34) and Kentucky Wesleyan (28).

A sign of depth in the conference’s baseball season this year is the fact that the league coaches gave four teams in each division at least one first-place vote. USI earned nine first-place votes in the East, followed by Northern Kentucky (4), Indianapolis (2) and Saint Joseph’s (1). In the West, Quincy earned nine first-place tallies, while Drury (4), Missouri S&T (2) and Rockhurst (1) split the remaining seven votes.

The 2012 GLVC baseball season will feature 16 teams for the first time as William Jewell enters its first year in the league, although the Cardinals will not be eligible for the conference tournament.

The top three teams from the East Division, the top two teams from the West Division and three wild card teams will earn a berth to the 2012 GLVC Baseball Tournament on May 10-13, which will be held primarily at Bosse Field in Evansville, Ind. Select opening-round contests will take place at the Southern Indiana Baseball Field.

UMSL opens its 2012 season March 2-4 by hosting Wisconsin-Parkside in a four-game series.