AIKEN, S.C. – The University of South
Carolina Aiken baseball team has been selected as the favorite to
capture the 2014 Peach Belt Conference baseball championship, as
released in the preseason poll.
The preseason poll was voted on by the league's head
coaches, which was released Friday.
Head coach Kenny Thomas and his team received nine of the 11
possible first-place votes, tallying 130 points to be selected as
the preseason favorite.
USC Aiken won the 2013 PBC regular-season title in 2013 with a
24-6 record in league play. The Pacers were 42-13 overall.
Thomas' team was ranked No. 1 nationally for two straight
weeks last season and reached the NCAA Tournament for the first
time since the 2009 campaign.
USC Aiken is No. 2 in the CollegeBaseballLineup.com preseason poll
for 2014 and is No. 14 in the preseason Collegiate Baseball
Newspaper in its preseason rankings.
Returning to the line-up are all-conference selections Ty Barkell,
Ryan Metzler, Derek Beasley and the reigning PBC Freshman of the
Year Sean Miller.
The squad has nine seniors and Thomas brought in an abundance of
talent.
The Pacers open their season Feb. 1 when the team hosts Lincoln
Memorial in a 1 p.m. contest.
Lander (117 points) and Montevallo (97 points) rounded out the top
three in the preseason poll. Coaches were not permitted to rank
their own teams.
PBC Release
2014 USC
Aiken Baseball Schedule
2014 Prestige Appliance Classic
