USC Aiken Officially Preseason Consensus Top 10 Choice
NCBWA NCAA Division II Preseason Poll
LAURINBURG, N.C. - The University of South Carolina Aiken baseball team will officially begin the 2010 season later this week as a consensus preseason top 10 selection after the Preseason National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) NCAA Division II Poll came out late Monday afternoon.
The Pacers are ranked sixth in the NCBWA Division II Preseason Poll. The ranking is USC Aiken's third top 10 preseason ranking.
The Pacers checked in at No. 9 in the Ping!Baseball preseason poll. The Pacers were slotted as the No. 6 team in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper NCAA Division II preseason poll released in late December of 2009.
The Pacers are the highest ranked Peach Belt Conference team in the 2010 NCBWA NCAA Division II preseason poll. Francis Marion is ranked 13th in the preseason poll.
The two are also ranked one-two in the NCBWA Preseason Southeast Region Poll. In total, five Peach Belt Conference teams are in the top 10 in the preseason region poll with North Georgia (fourth), Georgia College & State (seventh) and UNC Pembroke (ninth) all in the top 10 in addition to USC Aiken and Francis Marion.
Emporia State is the preseason No. 1 in the 2010 NCBWA Division II Preseason Poll. Southern Arkansas is ranked second, while UC San Diego is ranked third in the preseason poll.
The reigning Peach Belt Conference champions, the 2010 USC Aiken baseball team was tabbed as the preseason favorite in the Peach Belt Conference in a poll of the league's baseball coaches released on Tuesday, Jan. 19.
The Pacers received eight of a possible 11 first-place votes to finish at 114, just ahead of Francis Marion (111) in second place. North Georgia is third in the preseason poll followed by GCSU, Columbus State and UNC Pembroke.
The 2010 Pacers begin their season this weekend with a three-game home series against the South Atlantic Conference's Lincoln Memorial. USC Aiken's regular season opener will be at 4 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 5 against the Railsplitters. The three-game set will conclude with 1 p.m. games on Saturday (Feb. 6) and Sunday (Feb. 7).
The Pacers' season opener on Friday, Feb. 5 will be broadcast live on WKSX 92.7 FM.
For those unable to make it to the games as always the USC Aiken Sports Information Department has you covered. Live stats will be available for Pacer fans who are unable to attend the games. The live stats can be accessed by clicking on the live stats link at www.pacersports.com.
2010 NCAA Division II Southeast Region Preseason Poll
1. USC Aiken
2. Francis Marion
3. Tusculum
4. North Georgia
5. Catawba
6. Mount Olive
7. Georgia College & State
8. Erskine
9. UNC Pembroke
10. Belmont Abbey
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