Hornets picked ninth in national baseball poll

Daily Staff Report - sports@nvdaily.com

Shenandoah University's baseball team is the preseason No. 9 squad in the D3baseball.com poll released on Wednesday.

The Hornets, coming off a 38-10 season in which the squad won the South Region title and made an appearance in the NCAA Division III national championships, have 361 points in the preseason poll to come in just behind fellow 2009 championship participant Carthage (Wis.).

The Red Men eliminated Shenandoah with a 9-8, 11-inning victory on May 24 in the Hornets' third game of the championship tournament.

Defending national champion St. Thomas (Minn.) is the No. 1 selection in the poll, just ahead of Wooster (Ohio), the team the Tommies defeated for the national title.

Shenandoah finished the 2009 season as the No. 7 team in the final D3baseball.com poll and was announced last month as the No. 8 squad in the 2010 Collegiate Baseball preseason poll.

Last week, Shenandoah coach Kevin Anderson's squad was named as the preseason favorite to win the 2010 USA South Conference race.

Shenandoah is scheduled to open the 2010 season on Feb. 13 with two games in the second-ever ODAC-USA South Conference Challenge.