Cortland Second in Collegiate Baseball Poll
The SUNY Cortland baseball team is ranked second nationally in the 2011 Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Division III preseason poll. The Red Dragons, the national runner-up at last season’s NCAA Div. III World Series, will begin their season at Christopher Newport University in Virginia on Feb. 19 under 12th-year head coach Joe Brown.
In addition, Baseball America has chosen Cortland as the top Div. III team among the “Top 5 – How They’ll Finish” section of its online preseason preview, and the Red Dragons are ranked fourth nationally in the preseason National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA)/D3baseball.com Top 25 poll.
For the first time in school history, the Plattsburgh State baseball team will start the season in the national rankings Top 25 picture. The Cardinals, with 44 points, are 25th in the D3baseball.com preseason poll. The D3baseball.com Top 25 is voted on by a panel of 25 coaches, Sports Information Directors and media members from across the country, and is published weekly during the season. Plattsburgh also received recognition in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper preseason poll in the "receiving votes" category. If the poll were extrapolated beyond the Top 30, the Cardinals would be ranked 38th in the nation.
Cortland finished last season with a 40-10-1 record and qualified for the NCAA Div. III playoffs for the 18th straight year – the longest active streak nationally in Div. III. The Red Dragons won the NCAA New York Regional in Auburn with a 4-0 record and finished 4-2 at the World Series. Cortland advanced to the title game before losing to Illinois Wesleyan University. The Red Dragons also placed second nationally in 2005 and have made 10 World Series appearances, all since 1995.
Cortland’s 2011 schedule features seven teams ranked in the Collegiate Baseball preseason top 30 – Salisbury (Md.), Shenandoah (VA), Wheaton (Mass.), UMass Boston, Southern Maine, Keystone (Pa.) and St. John Fisher. The Salisbury, Shenandoah, Keystone and St. John Fisher games are road contests, while the Wheaton, UMass Boston and Southern Maine games are during the Red Dragons’ Spring Break trip to Auburndale, Fla., in mid-March.
Plattsburgh finished the 2010 season with a 30-10 record and made their ninth consecutive SUNYAC tournament appearance. The Cardinals will face three teams ranked in the Collegiate Baseball preseason top-30 starting with No. 29 University of Southern Maine on opening weekend and No. 1 Heidelberg over their spring break trip. Plattsburgh will take on Cortland in a SUNYAC three-game series at home the first weekend in April.
NCBWA/D3baseball.com Preseason Poll
Baseball America Preseason Preview
2011 Collegiate Baseball Div. III Preseason Poll
(with 2010 record listed)
1) Heidelberg (OH) (42-8)
2) CORTLAND (40-10-1)
3) Wisconsin-Stevens Point (34-18)
4) Kean (NJ) (39-12)
5) Illinois Wesleyan (31-21)
6) Shenandoah (VA) (38-10)
7) Johns Hopkins (MD) (44-7)
8) Wisconsin-Whitewater (42-7)
9) Birmingham Southern (AL) (34-5)
10) UMass Boston (32-17)
11) Tufts (MA) (34-7)
12) Linfield (OR) (37-13)
13) St. Thomas (MN) (35-9)
14) Chapman (CA) (31-11)
15) Mississippi College (39-11)
16) Marietta (OH) (36-13)
17) Pomona-Pitzer (CA) (31-11)
18) St. Scholastica (MN) (38-8)
19) Trinity (TX) (32-9)
20) Texas Tyler (32-9)
21) Salisbury (MD) (30-13)
22) Wheaton (MA) (34-10)
23) St. John Fisher (31-14)
24) Buena Vista (IA) (32-13)
25) Keystone (PA) (33-9)
26) Eastern Conn. St. (31-15)
27) Pacific Lutheran (WA) (30-10)
28) Wooster (OH) (34-9)
29) Southern Maine (22-21-1)
30) Rowan (NJ) (26-16-1)
