South Alabama picked 6th, Troy 8th in Sun Belt baseball
South Alabama baseball is picked to finish sixth and Troy eight in the new-look Sun Belt Conference in 2023, according to voting released by league coaches on Wednesday.
Sun Belt newcomer Southern Miss is the preseason conference favorite, receiving 11 of 14 first-place votes and 192 poll points. Georgia Southern and Texas State tied for second at 158, with the Bobcats also receiving a first-place vote.
Louisiana (154) is fourth and Coastal Carolina (151) fifth, with each team getting a first-place vote. South Alabama is next with 123 points, followed by Old Dominion (116), Troy (109), Georgia State (76), James Madison (73), Louisiana-Monroe (58), Appalachian State (43), Marshall (36) and Arkansas State (23).
Neither South Alabama nor Troy had a player selected first-team all-conference in the preseason. Georgia Southern designated hitter Noah Ledford is the preseason Player of the Year, Southern Miss’ Tanner Hall the preseason Pitcher of the Year.
South Alabama, which went 31-23 a year ago, opens the season Feb. 17 at home vs. Northwestern State. Troy, 32-24 in 2022, gets started at home vs. Evansville on the same day.
Here’s the complete preseason All-Sun Belt baseball team for 2023:
SP: Tanner Hall, Southern Miss (preseason pitcher of the year)
SP: Levi Wells, Texas State
SP: Zeke Wood, Texas State
RP: Triston Dixon, Texas State
C: Julian Brock, Louisiana
1B: Carson Roccaforte, Louisiana
2B: Jessie Sherrill, Georgia Southern
3B: Jarrett Brown, Georgia Southern
SS: Dustin Dickerson, Southern Miss
OF: Max Ryerson, Georgia State
OF: Carson Paetow, Southern Miss
OF: Jose Gonzalez, Texas State
DH: Noah Ledford, Georgia Southern (preseason player of the year)
UT: Cameron Jones, Georgia State