2008 NAC Baseball Coaches' Preseason Poll 1. Edgewood College (6), 136 2. Concordia University Chicago (3), 133 3. Rockford College (3), 116 4. Marian College, 106 5. Aurora University, 89 6. Concordia University Wisconsin, 85 7. Benedictine University, 82 8. Dominican University, 66 9. Lakeland College, 50 10. Wisconsin Lutheran College, 33 11. MSOE, 26 12. Maranatha Baptist Bible College, 14 First place votes in parentheses.

Edgewood tabbed as preseason favorite in baseball coaches' poll
VERONA, Wis. -- The Eagles of Edgewood College have been selected to win the 2008 Northern Athletics Conference Baseball Championship according to the preseason coaches' poll.

Edgewood received six of the 12 first place votes and totaled 136 poll points. Edgewood finished second in the conference last season with a 15-5 NAC record, 26-13 overall. The Eagles will return their entire pitching rotation and almost all of their batting order from last season as they lost just one senior from last year’s team.

Concordia University Chicago was tabbed second in the poll, receiving three first place votes and 133 poll points. The Cougars were runners-up in the NAC tournament and third in the conference standings in 2007.

CUC (27-16-1, 14-6 NAC) is led by preseason All-American Jack Walker. Walker batted .397 in 44 games last season to lead the Cougars and also recorded team-leading numbers in hits (71), runs (60) and walks (34).

Rockford College, last season's Northern Athletics Conference regular season and tournament champions, were picked to finish third. The Regents (29-12, 16-4) received the remaining three first place votes and 116 points in the poll. The Regents lost two All-NAC members from last year's squad, including Fabian Gomez, 2007 NAC Player of the Year, to the MLB Draft.

Marian College (19-19, 13-7) has been chosen fourth with 106 points. Aurora University (17-21, 8-12) was picked fifth and Concordia University Wisconsin (18-20, 12-8) sixth to round out the top half of the poll.

Picked seventh was Benedictine University (16-21, 10-10), followed by Dominican University (16-21, 10-10) at eighth and Lakeland College (12-22, 8-12) at ninth. Wisconsin Lutheran College (4-26, 3-17) was tabbed 10th, MSOE (6-25) 11th and Maranatha Baptist Bible College (5-24, 1-19) last.

MSOE and Edgewood begin their season at the end of the month, with the rest of the teams beginning their season in March. The season concludes with the 2008 NAC Baseball Tournament May 9-10, and the NCAA Division III Championship May 14-18 and 23-27.

Northern Athletics Conference, Sports Information Department, February 20, 2008.