Conference USA released its baseball preseason coaches’ poll Wednesday, and it came as a surprise to no one that Rice was named the league favorite for the fourth consecutive year.
The Owls, who have made 14 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and advanced to the College World Series in each of the last three seasons, received all nine first-place votes (81 total points), making them a unanimous league favorite for the third time in four seasons. East Carolina was the runner-up with 67 points, followed by Southern Miss (62), Tulane (55) and Houston (49).
No one can argue against Rice’s selection as the preseason frontrunner. Since the Owls began C-USA play in 2006, after relocating from the Western Athletic Conference, they’ve manhandled all of their league rivals.
Since that first season, the Owls have gone 65-7 in C-USA, winning at least 21 league contests per season. They won 17 consecutive C-USA series before losing two of three games to Southern Miss last March. Including its tenure in the WAC, Rice has won 33 of its last 34 conference series and 13 consecutive conference regular-season titles.
As usual, Rice has a wealth of talented players in its fold. The Owls return 16 lettermen and six position starters, including junior right-hander Ryan Berry (8-5, 3.63 ERA in 2008), junior catcher Diego Seastrunk (.353 batting average, 61 RBIs) and sophomore shortstop Rick Hague (.348, six home runs, 54 RBIs). This is to say nothing of a talented incoming freshman class, which includes standout pitcher Taylor Wall (Westside High School).
Of course, it also helps that the Owls have one of the nation’s best head coaches in Wayne Graham, who is 787-299 in 17 seasons at Rice.
The Owls, who are ranked third in Collegiate Baseball’s preseason rankings, will probably sprint through the league this season. As usual, no one will be surprised
UH softball at the forefront
The UH softball team, which is the preseason favorite to win the C-USA regular-season title, was ranked No. 16 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 preseason poll released Tuesday.
The Cougars, who claimed the league’s regular-season crown the past two years, return 11 letterwinners from last season’s 54-11 squad that advanced to the first NCAA super regional in program history.
UH has seven of eight position starters returning, including 2007 C-USA Player of the Year senior shortstop Jessica Valis (team-high .431 batting average last season) and senior outfielder Laurie Wagner (.401, team-high 19 home runs, 57 RBIs).
The Cougars also have 2008 C-USA Freshman of the Year sophomore first baseman Jennifer Klinkert (15 homers, 55 RBIs) and senior catcher Elaina Nordstrom (13 homers, 52 RBIs) back in the fold, so they shouldn’t have any problems producing runs this season.
However, head coach Kyla Holas and the Cougars will be hard pressed to find a replacement for three-time C-USA Pitcher of the Year Angel Shamblin (94-33 in four years with the Cougars). They hope that sophomore Baillie Lott, junior transfer Lindsey Olson, sophomore transfer Amanda Crabtree and freshman Kaela DeBroeck can fill the void left by Shamblin’s departure.
UH opens its season on Feb. 6 in Cathedral City, Calif.
