ST. LOUIS – Illinois State, which returns a dominating young pitching staff and solid depth from last year’s State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Baseball Tournament championship squad, has been tabbed as the league favorite in the annual coaches’ preseason poll, receiving four of eight first-place votes.
The Redbirds tallied 58 points and were a close favorite over second-place pick Wichita State (53 points). Evansville (41 points) was picked to finish in the third position.
Indiana State was selected in fourth place with 37 points, followed by Creighton in fifth (35) and Missouri State in the sixth slot (27). Southern Illinois (25) and Bradley (13) round out the final two positions in the poll.
2011 MVC BASEBALL PRESEASON POLL
Rank Team (1st-Place Votes) Points
1. Illinois State (4) 58
2. Wichita State (4) 53
3. Evansville 41
4. Indiana State 37
5. Creighton 35
6. Missouri State 27
7. Southern Illinois 25
8. Bradley 13
2011 MVC BASEBALL PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
Johnny Coy, Wichita State
Chris Serritella, Southern Illinois
Kevin Tokarski, Illinois State
Cody Fick, Evansville
Eric Stamets, Evansville
Matt Mirabal, Illinois State
Preston Springer, Wichita State
Kevin Medrano, Missouri State
Trever Adams, Creighton
Aaron Conway, Missouri State
Greg Wallace, Evansville
Tim Kelley, Wichita State
Corey Maines, Illinois State
Grant Gordon, Missouri State
Kenny Long, Illinois State
(MVC Release)