Waves Ranked No. 13 in Collegiate Baseball's Preseason Poll
12/23/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Dec. 23, 2005
Malibu, Calif. - Coming off a 41-23 season in which it advanced to the championship game of the Long Beach Regional and returning 24 letterwinners from last year's squad, the Pepperdine baseball team has been pre-season ranked No. 13 by Collegiate Baseball, the publication announced on Friday.
The Waves' roster is highlighted by the return of the West Coast Conference's (WCC) "Player of the Year" (Chad Tracy), "Pitcher of the Year" (Paul Coleman) and "Freshman of the Year" (Barry Enright).
Tracy, a second-team All-American by Collegiate Baseball and a leading candidate for the Johnny Bench Award as the country's top collegiate catcher, batted .367 with 12 home runs and 61 RBI as a sophomore last season.
As a junior in 2005, Coleman compiled a 9-3 record and 3.35 ERA. He established career-highs in innings pitched (110.0), strikeouts (91) and wins (9). In WCC play, Coleman went 6-1 with a 2.39 ERA, had one complete game and held conference opponents to a .192 batting average.
Coleman returns for his senior campaign after being a ninth-round selection by the Detroit Tigers in last June's First Year Player Draft.
Enright earned Freshman All-American honors after compiling a 10-1 mark in 2005.
Pepperdine, which concluded the 2005 season ranked No. 23 nationally, begins its 2006 season on February 3 when it opens a three-game series against UNLV at Eddy D. Field Stadium in Malibu.
Defending national champion Texas tops Collegiate Baseball's Top 40 preseason poll and is followed by Florida, Oregon State, Nebraska and Rice. Clemson is sixth, followed by North Carolina, Florida State, Cal State Fullerton and Georgia Tech rounds out the Top 10.
Pepperdine is one of three WCC teams in the Top 40. San Francisco, which is coming off its best season in school history, is No. 35 while San Diego is 36.
A total of eight teams on the Waves' 2006 schedule are ranked among the Top 40. Joining San Francisco and San Diego in the poll, are Oregon State (No. 2), Cal State Fullerton (No. 9), Long Beach State (No. 16), USC (No. 21), Tulane (No. 24) and Fresno State (No. 40).
Collegiate Baseball Newspaper's
NCAA Div. I Pre-Season Poll
1. Texas (56-16)
2. Florida (48-23)
3. Oregon St. (46-12)
4. Nebraska (57-15)
5. Rice (45-19)
6. Clemson (43-23)
7. North Carolina (41-19-1)
8. Florida St. (53-20)
9. Cal. St. Fullerton (46-18)
10. Georgia Tech. (45-19)
11. Miami, Fla. (41-19-1)
12. Arizona St. (42-25)
13. Pepperdine (41-23)
14. Missouri (40-23)
15. Louisiana St. (40-22)
16. Long Beach St. (37-22)
17. South Carolina (41-23)
18. Florida Atlantic (37-24)
19. Tennessee (46-21)
20. Mississippi (48-20)
21. Southern California (41-22)
22. Notre Dame (38-24-1)
23. Baylor (46-24)
24. Tulane (56-12)
25. Stanford (34-25)
26. Wichita St. (51-24)
27. Texas Christian (41-20)
28. Winthrop (44-22)
29. Oklahoma (35-26)
30. Southern Miss. (41-21)
31. Arizona (39-21)
32. Houston (29-30)
33. Arkansas (39-22)
34. Mississippi St. (42-22)
35. San Francisco (38-18)
36. San Diego (30-27-1)
37. Stetson (35-28)
38. Washington (33-22)
39. Georgia (30-25)
40. Fresno St. (30-29)
Other Teams Receiving Votes: Cal Poly SLO, Vanderbilt, Alabama, Auburn, California, UCLA, Ohio St., North Carolina St., Coastal Carolina, Louisville, U.C. Irvine, Virginia Commonwealth, Miami (Ohio), Oral Roberts, Central Florida, East Carolina, Central Michigan, Southern Illinois, Nevada-Las Vegas, San Diego St., Maine, Birmingham Southern, Jacksonville St., South Alabama, Louisiana-Lafayette, Troy, Florida International, Loyola Marymount, Army, College of Charleston, Georgia Southern, N.C. Charlotte, Richmond, Western Carolina, Northwestern St., Lamar, Southern.
