January 12, 2007
San Antonio – St. Mary’s University was picked 24th in the nation in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper’s NCAA Division II Pre-Season Poll, which was released this week. The Rattlers are the only Heartland Conference team to appear in the poll.
St. Mary’s received 282 total points to rank 24th in the poll. Defending National Champion the University of Tampa was picked to repeat, receiving 640 points in the poll. Georgia College and State University was picked second, while 2006 NCAA runner-up Chico State was picked third. The Rattlers first opponent of the season, Abilene Christian, was ranked 17th in the poll. The only other opponent on the Rattlers schedule to be ranked in the poll was Angelo State, who was 33rd.
The Rattlers finished the 2006 season with a 36-18 overall record and a 28-12 mark in the Heartland Conference. Despite finishing third in the standings, the Rattlers were just two games out of first place in the tightly-contested race last season, and missed out on an NCAA Regional Tournament berth. This season, for the first time, the NCAA has expanded the regional tournament field to six, from four previously.
Collegiate Baseball News Paper NCAA Division II Preseason Poll
Rank, Team, Points
1., Tampa, 640
2., Georgia College and St., 614
3., Cal. State-Chico, 612
4. , Florida Southern, 596
5., Montevallo, 566
6., Francis Marion, 564
7., Ashland, 560
8. , Emporia State, 516
9., Central Missouri State, 490
10., Franklin Pierce, 486
11., Kutztown, 480
12., Grand Valley State, 472
13., Delta State, 462
14., Columbus State, 450
15., Central Oklahoma, 420
16., Florida Gulf Coast , 378
17., Abilene Christian, 360
18., Mesa State, 356
19., West Chester, 348
20., Mount Olive, 344
21., Minnesota-Mankato, 322
22., South Carolina-Aiken, 314
23., Northern Kentucky, 312
24., St. Mary’s , 282
25., Tusculum, 250