Redbird baseball picked eighth in MVC preseason poll

Posted on January 31, 2017
daniel dwyer
Daniel Dwyer. (Photo courtesy goredbirds.com)

By ISU Sports Information

NORMAL – The Illinois State baseball team was pegged for an eighth-place finish in a preseason poll of Missouri Valley Conference coaches, the league announced Tuesday.

Dallas Baptist, the league’s 2016 regular-season and tournament champion, was picked to win the conference, as the Patriots collected five first-place votes and 59 voter points.

Southern Illinois received three first-place votes and 53 voter points to come in as the predicted runner-up. The poll was rounded out by, in order: Missouri State (51 voter points), Indiana State and Wichita State (36 points each), Bradley (25), Evansville (20) and Illinois State (8).

Dallas Baptist also led the way with five MVC Preseason All-Conference Team selections. Illinois State did not have a player selected to the preseason all-league team.

Illinois State begins the 2017 season at the Riverview Inn Governors Challenge, hosted by Austin Peay, in Clarksville, Tennessee, Feb. 17-19. The Redbirds will play 21 games at away or neutral sites before hosting their season opener, against Saint Louis, on March 28 at Duffy Bass Field.

The 2016 Illinois State baseball team posted an overall record of 17-37 and a league record of 7-13.

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