San Antonio – Call it an early Christmas stocking stuffer for the St. Mary’s baseball team.

Coming off a season in which they hosted the NCAA Division II South Central Regional tournament, the Rattlers have been ranked No. 4 in the nation in College Baseball Lineup’s Top 30 preseason poll, it was announced Thursday.

St. Mary’s, which went 47-10 last year, finished the 2011 season ranked 11th in CBL’s poll.

The Rattlers return a bevy of talent from last year’s squad, including reigning Heartland Conference Player of the Year Tyler Migl (Sr., San Antonio) and star pitcher Carl O’Neal (Jr., San Antonio), who heated up down the stretch during last year’s playoff run.

St. Mary’s also welcomes in a promising signing class that includes prized grab M.P. Cokinos (Jr., Houston), a star catcher who transfers from the University of Houston, where he was named to the Conference USA All-Freshman Team in 2010.

The Rattlers will open the 2012 season on Feb. 3, when they jump right into Heartland Conference play with a series against Newman University at Wolff Stadium. They’ll play a single game at 3 p.m. Feb. 3, before wrapping up the series with a doubleheader beginning at 12 p.m. on Feb. 4.

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