NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – VCU has again been tabbed the preseason favorite to win the 2021 Atlantic 10 Conference Baseball title, according to the preseason poll conducted by the league's 13 head coaches and released on Thursday
The Rams, who finished with 151 points and four first-place votes, will return almost all of their offensive arsenal in 2021 and are led by 2019 A-10 Coach of the Year Shawn Stiffler. Among those returners is senior outfielder Brandon Henson, who started the 2020 season on a blistering pace by tallying six home runs and leading the team with 15 RBI in the short season. Also among those returning are senior infielder Steven Carpenter
and junior infielder Liam Hibbits. Right-handed pitcher Michael Dailey will return for his sixth year as a Ram. Dailey recorded 21 strikeouts in the 20 innings he pitched last season.
Defending champion Fordham was picked second in the poll with 149 points and garnered four first-place votes. The Rams welcome back 18 players from the 2019 Championship team, including their top starter in Matt Mikulski, who held a 1.29 ERA in the shortened 2020 season. Also back is junior outfielder Jason Coules, who was named to the Bobby Bragan Collegiate Slugger Award Watch List and was a 2019 A-10 All-Rookie selection. One of the top two-way players in the Atlantic 10 and perennial nominee for the John Olerud Award, Alvin Melendez returns for a fith year. Melendez had a 0.90 ERA with 13 strikeouts along with 15 RBI and a .392 batting average in 2020 and was recently named to the NCBWA Division I preseason All-America Third-Team.
Dayton was picked to finished third with 146 points and four first-place votes. The Flyers return 26 total players from last season, including Riley Tirotta, Alex Brickman, Mariano Ricciardi, Ben Blackwell, Hunter Wolfe, Ben Olson, Cole Pletka. Tirotta was named to the Bobby Bragan Watch List, as well as the Preseason A-10 Player of the Year by D1Baseball.com and Perfect Game, while Hunter Wolfe was also named to the A-10 All-Conference Team by Perfect Game. The Flyers fell to eventual Champions, Fordham in a 12-inning contest in the 2019 Championship.
Davidson was picked fourth with 117 points, while 2018 champion Saint Louis was chosen fifth with 114 points and one first-place tally. Richmond (109 points), Rhode Island (103) George Washington (74) and Saint Joseph's (71) placed six, seventh, eighth and ninth respectively.
George Mason and La Salle were picked 10
th and 11
th respectively, and St. Bonaventure and Massachusetts rounded out the poll.
The 2021 baseball season opens on Friday, Feb. 19 with three teams in action. The four-team 2021 Atlantic 10 Championship will be played on the campus of the highest seed, May 27-29, with the winner advancing to the NCAA Tournament. Select regular-season games and A-10 Championship games will be streamed live on ESPN+.
2021 Atlantic 10 Baseball Poll
(parenthesis denotes number of first-place votes) |
|
| 1. VCU |
151 (4) |
| 2. Fordham |
149 (4) |
| 3. Dayton |
146 (4) |
| 4. Davidson |
117 |
| 5. Saint Louis |
114 (1) |
| 6. Richmond |
109 |
| 7. Rhode Island |
103 |
| 8. George Washington |
74 |
| 9. Saint Joseph's |
71 |
| 10. George Mason |
46 |
| 11. La Salle |
40 |
| 12. St. Bonaventure |
32 |
| 13. Massachusetts |
31 |