Coaches Pick Brevard College Baseball Sixth in USA South Preseason Poll

Posted: Jan 26, 2023

BREVARD, N.C. – The USA South Conference baseball coaches have released their annual preseason poll, slotting the Brevard College baseball team sixth in the rankings.

N.C. Wesleyan University was placed atop the rankings thanks to receiving 49 total points and seven of the possible eight first-place votes. The Battling Bishops finished last season with a 17-4 regular season Conference record which was good for an East Division Championship. N.C. Wesleyan would eventually fall in the best-of-three USA South Tournament Championship Series to conclude their season with a 28-17 overall record. Methodist University, who was second in the poll, grabbed 43 total points and the final first-place vote while William Peace University rounded out the top three with 35 points.

Since the first Conference baseball preseason poll in 2004, the N.C. Wesleyan program has been picked to capture the title just once but fell short of the championship in that season (2007). The team picked first in the poll's history has won the Conference championship eight out of 18 years. Conversely, the second-place team in the poll has grabbed the league title five times while the team picked fourth poll has earned the championship four times. Finally, no team selected lower than fourth in the preseason poll has won the Conference championship.

Pfeiffer University garnered the fourth spot with 29 points while Greensboro College slid into the fifth position with 25 points to edge the Tornados, who earned 23 points in the tabulation. Mary Baldwin University and Southern Virginia University finished in a tie for seventh place with 10 points each.

2023 USA South Baseball Coaches Preseason Poll
Rank	Institution (1st Place Votes)	Points
1.	N.C. Wesleyan# (7)	49
2.	Methodist (1)	43
3.	William Peace	35
4.	Pfeiffer	29
5.	Greensboro	25
6.	Brevard	23
t-7.	Mary Baldwin	10
t-7.	Southern Virginia	10
#Defending Regular Season Division Champion (East)

The 2023 USA South Baseball Tournament will once again be conducted exclusively on campus sites. The top-six seeded teams will advance to postseason play which will begin with two, three-team, double-elimination tournaments on Thursday-Saturday, May 4-6. The winners of those two tournaments will face each other in a best-of-three championship series the following weekend, Friday-Saturday, May 12-13.

The Tornados, under the direction of fourth-year Head Coach Mike Victory, are on the heels of the program's most successful season in 10 years. Brevard capped off one of its most successful seasons in the NCAA era in 2022, winning 21 games overall for the program's first 20+ win season since 2012. BC's 13 home victories at Gil Coan Field are its second-most in the NCAA era. Brevard ranked top-10 nationally as a team with 116 stolen bases and set program NCAA-era team records for on-base percentage (.413), fewest strikeouts (238), sacrifice flies (25), stolen bases (116), and team fielding percentage (.959).

The Tornados return a majority of their key contributors from last season while also welcoming 17 new faces to the program. Senior second basemen Blake Burchett led all of NCAA DIII Baseball in stolen bases-per-game after the first-year Tornado swiped 36 bags in 36 games while hitting .383 with 43 runs scored. Sophomore third basemen Frankie Vasquez took home USA South Rookie of the Year honors after a breakout freshman campaign that included 44 hits, eight doubles, three home runs, 33 RBIs, 23 runs scored, and a .358 batting average. Sophomore first basemen Cale Oehler looks to build on an impressive freshman season that included 40 hits, 12 doubles, four homers, 22 runs scored, 38 RBIs, and a .333 average while also earning four USA South Rookie of the Week honors. Junior outfielder Logan Clark returns as well, as the 2021 USA South and DIII Baseball South Region Rookie of the Year set the program NCAA-era record with his ninth triple while hitting .336 with 42 hits, 37 runs scored, seven doubles and 26 RBIs. Clark was a force on the basepaths as well, swiping 26 bases.

The Tornados open their season on Saturday, February 11 in Danville, Virginia with a doubleheader beginning at 12 p.m. vs. former USA South foe Averett University.

To follow the latest news and updates surrounding Brevard College Athletics, follow the Tornados on Twitter and Instagram @bctornados, subscribe to 'Brevard College Tornados' on YouTube, follow 'Brevard College Tornados' on SoundCloud, and 'Brevard College Athletics' on Facebook. In addition, follow 'brevardcollege' on Flickr for photos from Brevard College events

-BC-