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Winthrop Voted Preseason Baseball Favorite; Lentz, Wilson Tabbed Preseason Players of the Year
Courtesy: Big South
Release: 01/24/2007


CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Winthrop University’s baseball team has been chosen first in the Big South Conference’s annual preseason poll, as voted by the League’s Head Baseball Coaches and Sports Information Directors, it was announced today by the Conference office. In addition, Eagles senior outfielder Tommy Lentz (Mauldin, S.C.) has been voted the Conference’s Preseason Player of the Year, while sophomore teammate Alex Wilson (Hurricane, W.Va.) was voted Preseason Pitcher of the Year by the panel.

Winthrop received 14 of 16 first-place votes and 126 out of a possible 128 points to win the Big South in 2007. The Eagles, coming off their their second-straight NCAA Tournament appearance and fifth overall, are led by 16-year head coach Joe Hudak -- the Big South’s all-time winningest baseball coach with a record of 541-351-5. Winthrop returns 14 letterwinners and four position starters to a squad that went 46-18 last season and 17-7 in Big South play. The Eagles enter the 2007 campaign ranked 23rd in the preseason Baseball America poll, as well as 25th by Rivals.com, 31st by the NCBWA and 37th in the Collegiate Baseball preseason rankings.

Winthrop finished ahead of Coastal Carolina in the preseason poll, which collected two first-place votes and 108 points. UNC Asheville, last year’s tournament champion as a No. 6 seed, and High Point tied for the third spot with 82 points each. Liberty received 71 points for fifth-place in the voting, while VMI was sixth at 54 points. Charleston Southern was picked seventh (34 points), followed by Radford (19 points) in the preseason poll.

Lentz, a preseason All-America selection by the NCBWA, garnered 10 first-place votes and 38 points. Last season, he earned First-team All-Big South honors after ranking among the League leaders in hitting (.379), hits (88 ), runs scored (51), doubles (17) and RBI (51) while starting all 62 games. Lentz had a .988 fielding percentage with only two errors in 2006, and also received Big South All-Academic Team honors and ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-District second-team accolades. UNC Asheville outfielder Kevin Mattison was second in the voting with two first-place votes and 15 points, followed by Charleston Southern’s Justin Fyle, who received two first-place votes and 14 points.

Wilson, a preseason All-America by Collegiate Baseball, NCBWA and Rivals.com, as well as a candidate for the Roger Clemens Award and Brooks Wallace Watch List, posted a 13-3 record and 3.78 ERA in his freshman season last year, earning National Freshman Pitcher of the Year honors. He led the Big South in strikeouts (143) and wins, while ranking sixth in ERA. Wilson received 12 first-place votes and 42 points, ahead of High Point’s Eammon Portice (18 points, two first-place votes). VMI’s Trey Barham (two first-place votes) and UNC Asheville’s Alan DeRatt finished third with 12 points each.

The 2007 Big South baseball season begins Friday, February 2 with Winthrop at nationally-ranked UCLA. The first Conference meeting is set for the weekend of March 16-18, while the Conference Championship Tournament is slated for May 22-26 on the campus of Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C.

2007 Big South Conference Preseason Baseball Poll (combined votes)

Rk Team (first-place votes) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Points
1. Winthrop (14) 112 14 -- -- -- -- -- -- 126
2. Coastal Carolina (2) 16 63 24 5 -- -- -- -- 108
T-3. UNC Asheville -- 21 24 20 8 9 -- -- 82
T-3. High Point -- 7 30 30 12 3 -- -- 82
5. Liberty -- 7 18 15 20 9 2 -- 71
6. VMI -- -- -- 10 16 24 4 -- 54
7. Charleston Southern -- -- -- -- 8 -- 24 2 34
8. Radford -- -- -- -- -- 3 2 14 19

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