Central Connecticut Baseball Picked Second in NEC Coaches' Poll

The Central Connecticut baseball team was selected to finish second in the preseason Northeast Conference Coaches' Poll released on Thursday. Last season the Blue Devils finished with a winning 25-24 overall record and an 18-9 league mark. CCSU was the number two seed in the 2008 NEC Tournament and lost to eventual champion Mount St. Mary's.

The Blue Devils received two out of the eight first place votes, while last year's regular season winner, Monmouth, garnered five first place nods and the top spot in the poll. Wagner received the final first place vote and is slotted third in the poll, while last season's NEC Champion Mount St. Mary's is placed fourth. Quinnipiac, Long Island, Sacred Heart and Fairleigh Dickinson round out the rest of the poll, finishing fifth through eighth, respectively.

CCSU returns two of last year's All-NEC Second Team honorees in senior Casey Walko and sophomore Pat Epps. Walko, an outfielder from Freehold, NJ, recorded a batting average of .291 last season, while scoring 36 runs and totaling 11 doubles and four home runs for the Blue Devils. Epps, a native of Waterford, CT, hit .319 with a slugging percentage of .431 and totaled four homers a season ago.

The Blue Devils will start the season in Annapolis, MD as they take on Iona and Navy in three games beginning Friday March 6. CCSU will have their first 12 games on the road and will return home on Saturday March 28 for a doubleheader with Binghamton.