Baseball Tabbed Third in KIAC Coaches Poll
BEREA, Ky. – The Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference baseball coaches have picked newcomer Point Park University as the preseason favorite. Asbury comes in third in the six team conference.
Asbury made a historic run last year, starting in the KIAC Tournament in Kingsport, Tenn. and ending in the first-ever trip to the NAIA Opening Round. The Eagles claimed their first KIAC Tournament championship as well as the NAIA Unaffiliated Tournament, beating Point Park twice along the way. The Eagles finished the 2012 season with a 9-7 league mark, good enough for third place. They lost their first 17-games of the season before finishing 18-39.
Point Park enters their first season in the KIAC after their previous conference, America Mideast, folded following the 2012 season. The Pittsburgh school advanced to the Avista-NAIA World Series a year ago and enters this season as the 6th-ranked team in the NAIA preseason poll. The Pioneers received five of the six first-place votes and finished with 35 points.
Indiana Southeast, who tied with Brescia for the KIAC regular season title last year, finished second in the polls with 31 points and one first-place vote. Brescia came in just behind Asbury in fourth place with 19 points, the Eagles received 21 points. Berea and Alice Lloyd round out the poll, the Mountaineers taking 12 points and ALC receiving eight.
Asbury opens the season on Friday at Southern Poly with a four-game set. The home opener is slated for February 19 against Campbellsville. The 2013 KIAC Tournament will be hosted by Indiana Southeast, April 24-27, with all six teams vying for an automatic bid to the NAIA Opening Round.
