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Cavaliers Top ACC Coaches' Preseason Poll
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia baseball team has been selected as the 2010 ACC preseason favorite in a vote of the conference’s 12 head baseball coaches. UVa was picked to win the Coastal Division as well as the overall championship. It marks the first time the Cavaliers have been favored as the preseason division or league champion.
Virginia received 11 of the 12 first-place votes to win the Coastal Division and eight first-place votes for the overall championship. Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Miami, Virginia Tech and Duke were selected second through sixth, respectively, in the Coastal Division.
Florida State was favored to win the Atlantic Division and was followed, in order, by Clemson, Boston College, NC State, Wake Forest and Maryland. The Seminoles received 10 of the coaches’ 12 first-place votes for the Atlantic championship.
Led by seventh-year head coach Brian O’Connor, Virginia returns 23 of its 29 letterwinners from the 2009 team, which won a school-record 49 games, won the ACC Championship and captured the NCAA Irvine Regional and Oxford Super Regional titles en route to the program’s first College World Series appearance.
The entire starting lineup is back from 2009, including All-Americans Jarrett Parker (Jr., Stafford, Va.) and Danny Hultzen (So., Bethesda, Md.) and fellow All-ACC performers Tyler Cannon (Sr., Pigeon Forge, Tenn.), Phil Gosselin (Jr., West Chester, Pa.) and Dan Grovatt (Jr., Tabernacle, N.J.). The Cavaliers also have a top-10 recruiting class entering the fold, giving the team unprecedented depth.
Virginia is ranked No. 2 nationally in the 2010 Preseason Baseball America Top 25, the Cavaliers’ highest ranking at any point in program history. UVa stands No. 3 in the preseason Collegiate Baseball poll.
UVa opens the season Feb. 19 with a three-game series at East Carolina, which is ranked No. 18 in Baseball America’s preseason poll. The Cavaliers’ home opener is Feb. 24 against George Washington. UVa begins ACC play March 12-14 at Atlantic Division favorite Florida State.
ATLANTIC DIVISION
Team, Points, 2009 Record
Florida State (10), 70; 45-18, 19-9 ACC
Clemson (2), 62; 44-22, 19-11 ACC
Boston College, 42; 34-26, 13-15 ACC
NC State, 38; 25-31, 10-20 ACC
Wake Forest, 21; 22-30, 6-24 ACC
Maryland, 19; 27-27, 10-20 ACC
COASTAL DIVISION
Team Points 2009 Record
Virginia (11), 71; 49-15-1, 16-11-1 ACC
Georgia Tech, 57; 38-19-1. 17-10-1 ACC
North Carolina (1), 44; 48-18, 19-10 ACC
Miami, 42; 38-22, 18-12 ACC
Virginia Tech, 20; 32-21, 12-17 ACC
Duke; 18; 35-24, 15-15 ACC
Overall champion: Virginia (8)
Others receiving votes: Florida State (3), North Carolina (1)
First-place votes in parentheses