Salukis picked fourth in preseason MVC poll

ST. LOUIS - The Southern Illinois University baseball program was picked fourth in the preseason Missouri Valley Conference poll, the league announced Tuesday. SIU seniors Michael Baird, Connor Kopach and Ryan Netemeyer were named to the 15-man preseason All-MVC team. Both the preseason poll and preseason All-MVC team were voted on by league head coaches.

Baird, a starting pitcher, earned All-MVC honors in 2016 after leading the league with a 1.76 ERA. In his career, Baird has 19 quality starts, and Southern is 18-11-1 as a team in Baird's 30 career starts.

Kopach, a middle infielder, led the MVC with 33 stolen bases last year, which ranked fourth in the NCAA. Kopach has earned honorable mention All-MVC honors after each of the last two seasons and was also named to the 2017 MVC All-Defensive team.

Netemeyer, Southern's closer, is coming off a school-record 15 saves, which ranked sixth in the NCAA. He was a semifinalist for National Pitcher of the Year and National Stopper of the Year awards. He enters his senior season with 28 career saves, which is two shy of Southern's program record of 30 set by Bryant George (2007-10).

Dallas Baptist was picked to win the league and garnered seven of the eight first-place votes. Missouri State was picked second and received the other first-place vote. Indiana State was picked third; SIU was picked fourth; and Illinois State was picked fifth. The Salukis are coming off back-to-back fourth-place finishes in the MVC. SIU is looking to finish in the top half of the league for a third-straight season for the first time since 2002-05.

Southern Illinois opens the season on February 16 at Jacksonville State. SIU's home opener is March 2 against Louisiana Monroe. Season tickets are on sale now at 877-SALUKIS or on SIUSalukis.com.

2018 MVC PRESEASON POLL

1 - Dallas Baptist (7), 63
2 - Missouri State (1), 57
3 - Indiana State, 42
4 - Southern Illinois, 35
5 - Illinois State, 31
6 - Bradley, 30
7 - Evansville, 18
8 - Valparaiso, 12

PRESEASON ALL-MVC TEAM

1B - Luke Mangieri, Bradley
2B - Connor Kopach, Southern Illinois
SS - Jeremy Eierman, Missouri State
SS - Owen Miller, Illinois State
3B - Tim Millard, Dallas Baptist
C - Garrett Wolforth, Dallas Baptist
DH - Dane Giesler, Indiana State
UTIL - Andrew Ivelia, Bradley
OF - Jameson Hannah, Dallas Baptist
OF - Devlin Granberg, Dallas Baptist
OF - Hunter Steinmetz, Missouri State
SP - Dylan Coleman, Missouri State
SP - Michael Baird, Southern Illinois
RP - Ryan Netemeyer, Southern Illinois
RP - Jake Fromson, Missouri State

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Players Mentioned

Michael Baird

Connor Kopach

Ryan Netemeyer

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