WINTHROP, Mass. - The Albertus Magnus College baseball team was picked seventh in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Baseball Preseason Coaches' Poll, released Monday morning. The league's 10 head coaches vote on the poll.
Albertus finished last season with a 5-14 overall record and a 3-11 mark in conference play. Albertus Magnus College appeared in the GNAC Tournament as the No. 4 seed, defeating Norwich University by a final score of 5-2 in the conference quarterfinals. The Falcons then squared off against the AMCATS of Anna Maria College in the semifinals but suffered a hard-fought loss to end the season.
The Falcons return a strong core of players from last year, including graduate student Matt Warren (Wolcott, Conn.), who batted .419 last season, with three home runs, 13 RBIs, and 14 runs scored. Joe Matthews (Anaheim, Calif.) also returns after recording a solid season at the plate, with a .293 batting average, 12 runs scored, and five RBIs. On the mound, Michael Pepe (Cheshire, Conn.) hurled 11 innings to the tune of a 2.45 ERA, and Ike Flannery (Wethersfield, Conn.) tossed a career-high 22.1 innings while striking out 16 and recording a career-high 6.35 K/9 ratio.
With their talented core of players, the Falcons baseball squad earned 40 points in this year's preseason rankings, finishing in seventh place, ahead of eighth-place Norwich University (35 points), ninth-place Colby-Sawyer College (23 points), and 10-place Rivier University (13 points).
Last year's GNAC runner-up, Anna Maria, took the top spot in the rankings with 91 points while garnering five of the possible 10 first-place votes. Saint Joseph's College of Maine was only a hair behind, tallying 90 points while snaring three of the remaining five first-place votes. Last year's conference champion, Johnson and Wales (RI) University, rounded out the top three, finishing only two points behind the Monks, with 88 points, while capturing the final two first-place votes.
Lasell University, Dean College, and Elms College slotted in at fourth-place, fifth-place, and sixth-place, tallying 65, 55, and 50 points, respectively.
2022 GNAC Baseball Preseason Poll
1. Anna Maria (5) - 91
2. Saint Joseph's ME (3) - 90
3. JWU (2) - 88
4. Lasell - 65
5. Dean - 55
6. Elms - 50
7. Albertus Magnus - 40
8. Norwich - 35
9. Colby-Sawyer - 23
10. Rivier - 13
