Somerset, NJ - The 2015 campaign is beginning similarly as 2014 did for the Bryant Bulldogs, but how will it finish?
 
For the second year in a row, Bryant owns the title of unanimous Northeast Conference preseason favorite.
 
Coming off the best two-year span in league history, the Bulldogs, who are the only program in NEC annals to enjoy back-to-back 40-win campaigns, pulled in first-place nods from all six opposing coaches in the conference’s annual preseason poll.

2015 NEC BASEBALL Preseason Coaches’ Poll    1.    Bryant (6)    2.    Sacred Heart (1)    3.    Wagner    4.    Central Connecticut    5.    LIU Brooklyn    6.    Mount St. Mary’s    7.    Fairleigh Dickinson   First place votes in parentheses ( ).

 
Bryant's first-place vote (coaches are not permitted to vote for their own team) went to 2014 NEC Tournament runner-up Sacred Heart. Nick Giaquinto's Pioneers have advanced to the championship round of the NEC Tournament every year since 2009 and have won a pair of titles during that time.
 
Wagner claimed third place in the poll followed by Central Connecticut in fourth.
 
All four NEC Tournament participants from last May received a top-four ranking in the 2015 preseason poll.
 
LIU Brooklyn pulled into the No. 5 slot. The Blackbirds, who lost 2014 NEC Player of the Year John Ziznewski to the MLB Draft, will take the field under first-year head coach Alex Trezza. The former Sacred Heart assistant will make his NEC head coaching debut on February 27 at Savannah State.
 
Mount St. Mary’s and Fairleigh Dickinson rounded out the preseason poll selections in sixth and seventh, respectively.
 
Scott Thomson welcomes a pair of all-NEC performers – catcher Andrew Clow (Bel Air, MD) and infielder Kory Britton (Columbia, MD) - back to the Mount, which is looking for its first NEC Tournament title since 2008.
 
Meanwhile, Gary Puccio’s Knights hope to rekindle the magic of the 2012 campaign when they won 25 games, including a NEC Tournament contest, during what was their most successful season since the turn of the century.
 
Bryant has enjoyed tremendous success under skipper Steve Owens. Over the last three years, the Bulldogs own a .795 win percentage in NEC regular season play. In 2015, they have a chance to join Central Connecticut and Rider as the only programs to win three consecutive conference crowns.
 
The Bulldogs return five all-NEC selections from last year’s squad that won 42 games and earned a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional. Sophomore outfielder Matt Albanese (East Haddam, CT) earned Louisville Slugger Freshman All-America honors as well as a spot on the All-NEC Second Team last spring.  Corner infielders John Mullen (Walpole, MA) and Robby Rinn (Warwick, RI) also return from a lineup that batted a league-high .302 and averaged 6.7 runs per contest. Mullen, who has proven to be one of the most clutch hitters in program history, will serve as the team’s lone captain.
 
Bryant and Wagner will be the first two NEC teams to lift the lid off the 2015 schedule, doing so on Friday, February 20.
 
 
 
Six More Things to Know
 
? The NEC will host its four-team postseason tournament at Dodd Stadium in Norwich, CT for the fourth time in five years.  The double-elimination event is slated for May 21-24.
 
? Bryant received votes in The Collegiate Baseball Newspaper's 2015 Fabulous 40 NCAA Division I baseball poll.
 
? Central Connecticut has qualified for the NEC Tournament in seven of the past eight seasons and has won four conference crowns during skipper Charlie Hickey’s 15-year tenure.
 
? Sacred Heart’s James Cooksey (Norwalk, CT), an all-NEC first team relief pitcher as a sophomore, ranks second overall amongst returning NCAA Division I ERA leaders. His 1.16 earned-run average is second only to Southern California’s Kyle Davis
 
? Bryant saw four members of its 2014 team taken in the Major League Baseball Draft last June, including fourth-round selection Kevin McAvoy. The right-handed hurler, who went to the Boston Red Sox at 134th overall, is the third-highest draft pick in NEC history.
 
? For the eighth straight year, Wagner will play all 19 of its home games at Richmond County Bank Ballpark, which doubles as the home of the New York Penn League’s Staten Island Yankees. Over their first seven years at the stadium, the Green & White has gone 95-55 (.633), including 62-39 (.614) during league play.