Staff Report
UVa. sports: www.virginiasports.com
The Virginia baseball team is ranked No. 3 nationally in Collegiate Baseball’s “Fabulous 40” NCAA Division I Preseason Poll, which was released today. It marks the first of the preseason polls to be released for the upcoming college baseball season.
The No. 3 ranking is the highest preseason ranking in Virginia baseball history and matches the highest ranking at any time in program history. UVa also ascended to No. 3 in the national polls in April 2007.
The ACC boasts six schools in the top 20, including Georgia Tech and Florida State, which join UVa in the top 10 at Nos. 6 and 7, respectively. Miami (12), North Carolina (13) and Clemson (16) also rank amongst the top 20. The ACC is the only conference to place more than three schools in the top 20.
Led by seventh-year head coach Brian O’Connor, Virginia returns 23 of its 29 letterwinners from the 2009 team, which went 49-15-1, won the ACC Championship and captured the NCAA Irvine Regional and Oxford Super Regional en route to the program’s first College World Series appearance. Among the returning letterwinners is the entire starting lineup, including All-Americans Jarrett Parker (Jr., Stafford, Va.) and Danny Hultzen (So., Bethesda, Md.). The Cavaliers also have a top-10 recruiting class entering the fold and giving the team a wealth of depth.
The full Collegiate Baseball preseason rankings are available at http://www.baseballnews.com/polls/divI/currentpolldivI.htm.
UVa. opens the season Feb. 19 with a three-game series at East Carolina, which is ranked No. 18 in Collegiate Baseball’s preseason poll. The Cavaliers begin their home schedule Feb. 24 vs. George Washington.
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Chris Graham
