NEW ORLEANS – The South Alabama Jaguars and UT Arlington Mavericks are the East and West Division favorites, respectively, in the Sun Belt Conference baseball preseason coaches’ poll heading into the 2020 season.
Additionally, the reigning Sun Belt Player and Freshman of the Year, USA's Ethan Wilson, was tabbed as the Preseason Player of the Year, while teammate, Drake Nightengale, was named Preseason Pitcher of the Year, in a vote by the league's head coaches.
The South Alabama Jaguars will look to make it six consecutive seasons with 30 or more wins after finishing 2019 with a 30-26 record and a third place finish in the Sun Belt East Division. The Jaguars enter the season ranked No. 23 by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, the highest-ranked Sun Belt squad.
Coach Mark Calvi's Jaguars welcome back seven position starters and nine pitchers. Calvi needs just 31 wins in 2020 to reach the 300-wins for his career.
USA opens the 2020 season against Campbell on Feb. 14 with a schedule full of NCAA tournament participants, including last year's national champions, Vanderbilt.
UTA finished the 2019 season with a 32-26 record. The Mavericks will look to build upon last season, with a 54-game slate that features 10 NCAA tournament teams from a year ago.
The Mavericks went 17-12 in Sun Belt play, finishing third in the West Division. This year the Mavs return seven position players and 11 pitchers while welcoming seven newcomers to the squad. Coach Darin Thomas and his Mavs kick off the 2020 season on Feb. 14 with a home series against Southland Conference foe, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
Wilson was voted the 2019 Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year after finishing the season ranked second in the league in slugging percentage (.686) and total bases (151), tied for second in home runs (17), tied for third in runs scored (59), sixth in batting average (.345) and on-base percentage (.453), tied for eighth in hits (76), ninth in RBIs (51) and tied for ninth in doubles (16). Wilson was the only NCAA Division I freshman in the nation to be named conference player of the year.
He broke the program's freshman home run record, and his 17 home runs in 2019 are the most by a Jaguar since Jeff Cunningham's single-season record of 22 in 2007.
Wilson has been named Second-Team Preseason All-America by D1Baseball and First-Team Preseason All-America by Collegiate Baseball.
In 2019, his freshman season, Wilson earned First-Team Freshman All-America accolades from Collegiate Baseball, Baseball America and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. He was also named the Co-National Freshman of the Year by Collegiate Baseball, Third-Team All-America by Collegiate Baseball and Third-Team All-America by the American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings, as well as being a First-Team All-Central Region and First-Team All-Sun Belt Conference selection.
A transfer from Pearl River Community College, Nightengale came in and led the Jaguars with a 6-2 record in 2019 and a 3.52 ERA which ranked fourth overall in the Sun Belt last season. He fanned 91 batters in 71 and two-third innings while starting 12 of 15 games for USA. Nightengale was a three-time Sun Belt Pitcher of the Week in 2019.
The Jaguars led all teams with three preseason All-Sun Belt selections. Appalachian State, Little Rock and Troy each placed two student-athletes on the preseason all-conference team.
The 2020 baseball season begins on Friday, February 14. The 2020 Guardian Credit Union Sun Belt Baseball Championship is set for May 19-24 at Riverwalk Stadium in downtown Montgomery, Ala., the double-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. This will be the first Sun Belt Baseball Championship hosted in a minor league park since 2012 (Bowling Green Hot Rods).
2020 Sun Belt Conference Baseball Coaches’ Preseason Poll
first-place votes in parentheses
EAST DIVISION
1. South Alabama (6) - 62 pts
2. Coastal Carolina (4) - 61 pts
3. Georgia Southern (2) - 50 pts
4. Troy - 41 pts
5. Appalachian State - 23 pts
6. Georgia State - 15 pts
WEST DIVISION
1. UTA (3) - 58 pts
2. Louisiana (5) - 57 pts
3. Texas State (3) - 55 pts
4. Little Rock (1) - 39 pts
5. ULM - 25 pts
6. Arkansas State - 18 pts
2020 Preseason All-Sun Belt Conference Baseball Team
Drake Nightengale, South Alabama (Senior, Starting Pitcher, Hattiesburg, Miss.)
Zach McCambley, Coastal Carolina (Junior, Starting Pitcher, Mount Pocono, Pa.)
Levi Thomas, Troy (Junior, Starting Pitcher, Cullman, Ala.)
Andrew Papp, Appalachian State (Senior, Relief Pitcher, Raleigh, N.C.)
Jack Jumper, Arkansas State (Senior, Relief Pitcher, Benton, Ark.)
Kale Emshoff, Little Rock (RS-Junior, Catcher, Robstown, Texas)
Kaleb DeLatorre, South Alabama (Senior, First Base, Fort Scott, Kan.)
Luke Drumheller, Appalachian State (Sophomore, Second Base, Charlotte, N.C.)
Hayden Cantrelle, Louisiana (Junior, Shortstop, Lafayette, La.)
Garrett Scott, Little Rock (RS-Senior, Third Base, Spring, Texas)
Mason McWhorter, Georgia Southern (Senior, Outfielder, Cumming, Ga.)
Ethan Wilson, South Alabama (Sophomore, Outfielder, Andalusia, Ala.)
Rigsby Mosley, Troy (Junior, Outfielder, Maitland, Fla.)
Will Hollis, Texas State (Senior, Designated Hitter, McKinney, Texas)
Andrew Beesley, ULM (Senior, Utility, Natches, Miss.)
2020 Preseason Player of the Year
Ethan Wilson, South Alabama (Sophomore, Outfielder, Andalusia, Ala.)
2020 Preseason Pitcher of the Year
Drake Nightengale, South Alabama (Senior, Starting Pitcher, Hattiesburg, Miss.)