ECU baseball picked as preseason favorite in AAC

IRVING, Texas (WITN) – For the third year in a row and fourth time since joining the league in 2015, ECU baseball has been picked first in the AAC preseason poll.

The poll is chosen by the conference’s eight head coaches.

The Pirates won the 2019 regular season title after setting a new league record with 20 wins. They earned seven of the eight first place votes this preseason.

Four Pirates earned preseason all-conference honors. Outfielder Thomas Francisco, pitcher Jake Kuchmaner, second baseman Connor Norby and outfielder Bryson Worrell. Kuchmaner and Worrell were two of five players on the squad that were unanimous selections.

2021 American Athletic Conference Preseason Poll and Awards

(as selected by The AAC head coaches)

PRESEASON POLL

East Carolina (7) – 49 points
UCF – 39
Tulane (1) – 36
Houston – 34
Wichita State – 25
Cincinnati – 15
Memphis – 14
USF - 12

(First-place votes in parenthesis)

2020 PRESEASON ALL-CONFERNCE TEAM

Position – Name (School)

P - Colton Gordon, R-So., UCF

P - Evan Shawver, Jr., Cincinnati

P - Jake Kuchmaner, Jr., East Carolina*

P - Braden Olthoff, R-Jr., Tulane*

P - Liam Eddy, Jr., Wichita State

RP - Jack Sinclair, Jr., UCF

C - Hunter Goodman, So., Memphis*

1B - Ryan Hernandez, Jr., Houston

2B - Connor Norby, So., East Carolina

SS - Ben Brooks, Jr., Memphis

3B - Eric Santiago, Gr., Cincinnati

3B - Trevor Minder, R-Jr., Tulane

OF - Thomas Francisco, So., East Carolina

OF - Bryson Worrell, Jr., East Carolina*

OF - Couper Cornblum, So., Wichita State

DH - Wyatt Stapp, Sr., Cincinnati*

(*unanimous selection)

PRESEASON PLAYER-OF-THE-YEAR

Hunter Goodman, So., C, Memphis

PRESEASON PITCHER-OF-THE-YEAR

Braden Olthoff, R-Jr., Tulane

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