University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville Picked 9th in Big South Preseason Poll
01.27.2011 | Baseball
"We hope to prove the poll wrong again this year," commented second-year Bulldog coach Tom Smith. "Last year, we were picked to finish in 10th and managed to finish in seventh place. We're determined to finish even higher this season.
"However, the Big South is really good in baseball," added Smith. "Coastal Carolina missed going to the College World Series because they lost two one-run games to South Carolina in the Super Regional. All South Carolina did was win the College World Series. You've also got great programs at Liberty and Winthrop. High Point, Radford and VMI are all solid programs. We've got a lot of work to do to try and catch those programs but we're looking forward to the upcoming season."
Coastal Carolina was the unanimous selection to win the Big South crown in 2011, as the Chants received all 10 first-place votes. Coastal Carolina is coming of its fourth consecutive Big South Championship and NCAA Tournament berth, as well as its second NCAA Super Regional appearance in three seasons. The Chanticleers won a Big South-record 55 games in 2010 and was 25-0 in league play.
The Bulldogs will host Coastal Carolina at Greenwood Field this season. The Chanticleers come to Asheville the weekend of March 25-27.
Liberty, last year's tournament runner-up, was second in the preseason poll with 90 points. Winthrop was picked third with 68 points, while High Point finished fourth in the voting with 63 points. VMI and Radford tied for the fifth spot with 61 points each, while Gardner-Webb garnered seventh-place (39 points). Charleston Southern finished at No. 8 (30 points), followed by UNC Asheville (26 points). Presbyterian College, which is eligible for the league's regular-season championship but not the Conference tournament, rounded out the voting with 12 points for the 10th and final spot in the poll.
Asheville finished last year an overall record of 17-37 and 10-17 record inside BSC play. The Bulldogs played their best baseball at the end of the season as they won five of their last seven games. All five of those wins were in Big South Conference games and helped moved Asheville from 10th to seventh place in the final league standings.
The Bulldogs open the 2011 season at Greenwood Field when they host Murray State in a three-game series Feb. 18-20.
