January 17, 2007
USA South announces baseball preseason polls
Defending USA South regular season champions ranked fourth

FAYETTEVILLE, NC-  The USA South Conference office released the preseason polls Wednesday for the 2007 baseball season.  The polls are based on votes from each conference member's head coach without voting for themselves.

N.C. Wesleyan College, under the direction of 16th-year Head Coach Charlie Long, was picked to win the USA South Athletic Conference 2007 men's baseball title in the preseason coaches' poll.  The Battling Bishops are coming off a USA South Conference Tournament and South Regional Championship last season. N.C. Wesleyan received six of seven first-place votes (36 points) as head coaches do not vote for their own teams in the balloting.

Ferrum College finished second in the balloting with 28 points while Greensboro College collected the final first-place vote and 25 points for a third-place finish in the poll. Methodist University, the defending USA South Regular Season Champions, finished fourth in the balloting with 21 points. Christopher Newport University rounded out the top-five as the Captains collected 17 points.

The Monarchs will begin the season against LaGrange on February 10th and 11th at Armstrong-Shelley Field.  The team is returning all nine starters that finished the 2006 season 26-17 overall and 13-5 in the USA South. 

To read more about the preseason polls and to see the entire voting results visit: http://www.usasouth.net/