The Cal Poly baseball team is projected to finish third in the Big West Conference this season, per the 2008 Preseason Big West Coaches Poll released Tuesday.
All nine Big West head baseball coaches issued their opinions on the 2008 title chase, and none believed the Mustangs to be a first-place candidate.
Leading the poll with 77 total points and five first-place votes was Long Beach State, this season’s No. 17-ranked team in the Collegiate Baseball top-40 preseason poll.
The 49ers return a plethora of players from last season, and if the polls come to fruition, it would mean their first conference championship since 2003.
Coming in a close second was Cal State Fullerton, which has won six of the past eight Big West titles. The Titans garnered 74 total points and the four remaining first-place projections in this year’s poll. Interestingly enough, the Titans were slotted one spot ahead of the 49ers in the national poll.
In descending order, respectively, UC Irvine, defending Big West champion UC Riverside, UC Santa Barbara, Pacific, Cal State Northridge and Big West newcomer UC Davis finished out the conference poll.
The Mustangs, who earned 58 total points, will start the season with 20 returning letterwinners and eight returning position players, including their whole infield and seven pitchers.
They hit the dirt at 4:30 p.m. Feb. 22 at Alabama and begin Big West play by hosting UC Santa Barbara at 6 p.m. March 11.