Fresno State Athletics
Baseball Picked Second in WAC Preseason Coaches' Poll
1/15/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
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Jan. 15, 2004
DENVER - The Fresno State baseball team was picked to finish second in the WAC preseason coaches' poll released Thursday. This is the fourth straight year that the Bulldogs have been tabbed second in the poll dating back to 2001.
The Bulldogs garnered 19 points including one first place vote, three second place votes and one fourth place vote. Fresno State is coming off a third place finish in the WAC with a 14-16 mark in conference play last season. For the eighth year in a row, defending conference champion Rice was picked to win the WAC regular season title. The Owls received 25 points including all five first place votes (coaches cannot vote for their own team) after going 58-12 en route to their first ever national title last year.
Nevada trailed closely behind Fresno State in third with 18 points followed by Hawai'i (13 points), San Jose State (10) and Louisiana Tech (5). Rice junior starting pitcher Jeff Niemann was pegged as the conference's preseason Pitcher of the Year after posting a 17-0 record with a 1.70 ERA last season. Nevada sophomore catcher Brett Hayes, last season's WAC Freshman of the Year, was chosen as the preseason Player of the Year for 2004.
The Bulldogs host their 25th annual alumni game on Saturday, Jan. 31 at 1 p.m. and open their regular season schedule at home against No. 4-ranked Stanford, Feb. 6-8.
