Concordia baseball lands at No. 7 in GPAC preseason poll
Head coach Jeremy Geidel’s Bulldog baseball squad has been slotted seventh in the GPAC baseball preseason coaches’ poll, the league announced on Tuesday.
Coaches placed Concordia seventh in the preseason poll last season as well. The Bulldogs finished a notch higher, going 10-10 in league play as they tied for sixth place in 2012. Geidel led his team to a 25-28 overall mark.
While top hitter and first team all-conference honoree Zak Goodrich has graduated, the Bulldogs return 2012 second team All-GPAC standouts in catcher Ray Finley and third baseman Andrew Yerrell. Senior shortstop Kyle Ivanoff, who started all 53 games last season, provides steady play up the middle.
Doane, ranked No. 23 in the NAIA preseason national poll, earned seven of the 11 first-place votes and 96 total points to top the GPAC poll. The Tigers are aiming to defend their 2012 GPAC Championship. They are followed in the poll by Morningside (three first-place votes) and Northwestern.
Concordia will begin its season two weeks from Saturday when they begin a Kansas road trip and take on Bethany College in a doubleheader on Feb. 16. Conference play begins on March 29 when the Bulldogs take on Nebraska Wesleyan in Lincoln, Neb.
2013 GPAC baseball preseason coaches’ poll:
*First-place votes in parentheses
1. Doane – 96 (7)
2. Morningside – 90 (3)
3. Northwestern – 82
4. Mount Marty – 73 (1)
5. Nebraska Wesleyan – 59
6. Dakota Wesleyan – 58
7. Concordia – 41
8. Briar Cliff – 39
9. Hastings – 37
10. Midland – 19
11. Dordt – 11
29 January 2013
