The University of Illinois Springfield baseball team was picked to finish fifth in the Great Lakes Valley Conference’s preseason coaches poll that was released on Tuesday.
UIS, which will be led by first-year coach Ryan Copeland, received 169 points in the poll.
The Prairie Stars finished one-game back of the GLVC title and appeared in the NCAA Division II super regionals last season. UIS won the league’s regular season championship in 2018.
The Prairie Stars have had the top offense in the GLVC the past three seasons and return all-conference position players in Chris Monroe, Brandon Bannon and Ruben Markham.
Cameron Zunkel and Colton Hale, all-conference pitchers from 2018, also return to the team. Pitchers Jordan Mikel and Evan Snyder are Division I transfers expected to compete for innings.
This story appeared in The State Journal-Register on January 28, 2020.
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