After winning the Charlottesville Regional a season ago, East Carolina is picked to finish first in the 2017 American Athletic Conference preseason poll, in voting by the league’s head coaches and released by the conference office.
The Pirates received six first-place votes and 48 points to top the poll. Houston had one first-place vote and 42 points to sit in second. Tulane garnered the final first-place vote and had 35 points to place third, followed by UConn, Cincinnati, USF, UCF and Memphis.
The AAC had three teams earn bids to the 2016 NCAA Tournament: Tulane, UConn and East Carolina. Tulane won the regular-season title and UConn captured the conference tournament crown.
The 2017 season begins on Feb. 17, with conference play commencing on March 31. The 2017 American Athletic Conference Championship will be May 23-28 at Bright House Field in Clearwater, Fla.
| 2017 AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE PRESEASON BASEBALL POLL |
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| Team (First-Place Votes) | Points | |
| 1. | East Carolina (6) | 48 |
| 2. | Houston (1) | 42 |
| 3. | Tulane (1) | 35 |
| 4. | UConn | 30 |
| 5. | Cincinnati | 22 |
| 6. | USF | 21 |
| 7. | UCF | 13 |
| Memphis | 13 | |
2017 PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
Pos, Name, School, 2016 Statistics
P, Tim Cate, UConn, 5-1, 2.73 ERA, 82.1 IP, 101 K, 27 BB
P, Evan Kruczynski, East Carolina, 8-1, 2.01 ERA, 116.2 IP, 95 K, 27 BB
P, Seth Romero*, Houston, 6-4, 2.29 ERA, 94.1 IP, 113 K, 28 BB
P, Ross Massey, Tulane, 10-3, 2.29 ERA, 9 0.1 IP, 51 K, 18 BB
RP, Joe Ingle*, East Carolina, 6-3, 3.59 ERA, 12 SV, 52.2 IP, 75 K
C, Travis Watkins, East Carolina, .326, 7 HR, 44 RBI
1B, Hunter Williams, Tulane, .294, 9 HR, 30 RBI
2B, Jake Willsey, Tulane,.265, 10 HR, 31 RBI
SS, Kevin Merrell, USF,.320, 1 HR, 22 RBI, 16 SB
3B, Willy Yahn, UConn,.319, 3 HR, 46 RBI, 7 SB
OF, Dwanya Williams-Sutton*, East Carolina, .360, 5 HR, 27 RBI, 7 SB
OF, Corey Julks*, Houston, .332, 3 HR, 28 RBI, 10 SB
OF, Chris Carrier, Memphis,.280, 6 HR, 38 RBI, 15 SB
DH, Joe Davis*, Houston, .331, 14 HR, 58 RBI
*unanimous selection
PRESEASON PLAYER OF THE YEAR
DH, Joe Davis, Houston, .331, 14 HR, 58 RBI
PRESEASON PITCHERS OF THE YEAR
LHP, Tim Cate, UConn, 5-1, 2.73 ERA, 82.1 IP, 101 K, 27 BB
LHP, Evan Kruczynski, East Carolina, 8-1, 2.01 ERA, 116.2 IP, 95 K, 27 BB