Huntingdon baseball picked 5th in preseason USA South poll

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. – The Huntingdon baseball team received three first-place votes and is ranked fifth in the USA South Athletic Conference preseason baseball poll.

The conference preseason poll was released on Wednesday.

The Hawks, coming off a 32-11 season and their first berth in a NCAA Regional, earned 51 points in the poll. Preseason favorite Covenant received three-first-place votes and 67 points.

Covenant and Huntingdon are both first-year members of the USA South and former members of the Great South Athletic Conference. The Hawks competed as an Independent last season.

Ranked second, North Carolina Wesleyan had two first-place votes and 63 points. Third-place Methodist, the 2013 conference tournament champion, received one first-place vote and 60 points and Piedmont was fourth with 58 points.

Rounding out the bottom five of the poll are Averett (49 points), Maryville (one first-place vote and 46 points), Ferrum (23 points), LaGrange (20 points) and Greensboro (13 points).

Huntingdon opens the season on Feb. 6 at home against Randolph-Macon at 5 p.m. The Hawks will play their first conference game on Feb. 21 at N.C. Wesleyan.

The complete poll is listed below.

USA South Baseball Preseason Poll  

1. Covenant (3 first-place votes), 67 points                                                           

2. N.C. Wesleyan (2), 63 points

3. Methodist (1), 60 points

4. Piedmont, 58 points

5. Huntingdon (3), 51 points

6. Averett, 49 points

7. Maryville (1), 46 points

8. Ferrum, 23 points

9, LaGrange, 20 points

10. Greensboro, 13 points