EIU 11th In Preseason Baseball Poll

As the 2017 baseball season approaches, the Ohio Valley Conference released their preseason poll. The Panthers were selected to finish 11th in the conference as selected by the conference’s Head Coaches and Sports Information Directors. The Panthers were also selected to finish ninth in the conference in the D1Baseball.com poll.

Eastern Illinois second year head coach Jason Anderson has 17 letter winners back from his debut season and will have 14 newcomers competing for playing time as well this year. Among the team’s top returning players is junior outfielder Joe Duncan who had a team-high .332 batting average in 2016.

Michael McCormick and Jake Haberer were both selected within the top 15 of top prospects in the OVC for the 2017 draft class by D1Baseball.com. McCormick, who was a weekend starter for the Panthers’ last season, was ranked as the fifth-best prospect. Haberer, who finished second on the team in total appearances last season, was ranked 12th.

Jacksonville State and Southeast Missouri were selected as the top two teams in the preseason poll as JSU picked up seven first-place votes to SEMO’s six. Austin Peay was predicted to finish in third, with Tennessee Tech, Morehead State, and Belmont rounding out the top six teams. Murray State picked up the final two first-place votes and was selected to finish in seventh. The poll was rounded out by Eastern Kentucky, UT Martin, SIUE, and EIU.

Tennessee Tech sophomore outfielder Kevin Strohschein was named OVC Preseason Player of the Year while Austin Peay senior Alex Robles was tabbed OVC Preseas