Pacers Pick Up Second Preseason Top 10 Ranking
2010 Ping!Baseball NCAA Division II Preseason Poll
OMAHA, Neb. - The University of South Carolina Aiken baseball team picked up its second preseason top 10 ranking on Friday when Ping!Baseball released its 2010 NCAA Division II preseason baseball poll.
The Pacers check in at No. 9 in the Ping!Baseball preseason poll. The Pacers were slotted as the No. 6 team in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper NCAA Division II preseason poll released in late December of 2009. The Pacers have now been picked as a top 10 team in the preseason by both publications for the past two seasons. The Pacers were ranked sixth in the 2009 Ping!Baseball preseason poll, while they came in at No. 10 in the 2009 Collegiate Baseball Newspaper NCAA Division II preseason poll.
The Pacers, who were the highest ranked Peach Belt Conference team in the 2010 Collegiate Baseball Newspaper NCAA Division II preseason poll, are the second highest ranked PBC squad in the 2010 Ping!Baseball preseason poll as Francis Marion is ranked one spot higher in eighth. In total, four PBC teams were ranked in the Ping!Baseball Division II preseason poll with Georgia College State (23rd) and Armstrong Atlantic State (28th) also both tabbed in the top 30.
The UC San Diego Trojans are the preseason No. 1 team in the Ping!Baseball preseason poll. Florida Southern is No. 2 and Emporia State is No. 3. The top three is identical to the top three in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper preseason poll. The only difference is that in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper preseason poll, 2009 NCAA Division II national runner-up Emporia State is the preseason No. 1 with Florida Southern No. 2 and UC San Diego the third-ranked squad in the preseason.
USC Aiken's 2009 baseball team ended the year tied with Central Missouri for 10th in the final Collegiate Baseball NCAA Division II Top 30 poll.
The final ranking of 10th was the highest for the 2009 Peach Belt Conference regular season champions under head coach Kenny Thomas.
USC Aiken ended the 2008 season ranked 11th, while they concluded the 2005 season 12th.
The Pacers reached as high as No. 2 nationally in 2009 en route to their second ever Peach Belt Conference regular season championship. The regular season title was the first for the Pacers since 1994. The Pacers also have two PBC Tournament crowns, having won the league tournament in 1992 and 1993.
The Pacers' prowess during the regular season helped USC Aiken to top honors in the Southeast Region, enabling the program to host its second ever NCAA Division II Tournament regional.
The Pacers advanced to the regional final for the second consecutive season before bowing out to NCAA Division II Baseball Championship semifinalist and Conference Carolinas Tournament champion Belmont Abbey in the first game of the championship round.
USC Aiken (42-19) concluded its season having been a part of its fifth consecutive NCAA Division II Baseball regional.
The Pacers' 42 wins in 2009 leave the program entering the 2010 campaign with five consecutive 40-win seasons.
USC Aiken has been a participant in the NCAA Division II Tournament seven times (1992, 1993, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009).
The 2010 Pacers begin their season with a three-game home series against the South Atlantic Conference's Lincoln Memorial. USC Aiken's regular season opener will be at 4 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 5 against the Railsplitters. The three-game set will conclude with 1 p.m. games on Saturday (Feb. 6) and Sunday (Feb. 7).
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