Lewis-Clark State College Named Favorite in Preseason Coaches’ Poll
LA GRANDE, Ore. – The Lewis-Clark State College baseball team continues to remain the favorite for the NAIA West title, collecting five first-place votes in the 2017 NAIA West Grouping Preseason Coaches’ Poll.
The Warriors enter the 2017 campaign looking for their third consecutive NAIA National Championship after winning the title the last two seasons. LCSC finished with the top regular season record last year at 52-8 overall, going 30-5 in conference play, leading to the program’s first ever NAIA West Tournament Title.
Among the returners for Lewis-Clark is the 2016 NAIA West Player of the Year, J.J. Robinson. Robinson batted .335 and led the league in RBIs with 82 and home runs with 15.
Coming in second in the poll is the University of British Columbia who enter their first season as associated members of the Cascade Collegiate Conference in baseball. In 2016, the Thunderbirds finished the regular season 39-22 overall with a 23-12 record in the West. UBC returns All-NAIA West pitcher Connor Noble who earned nine wins in 17 appearances with a 2.45 ERA and 84 strikeouts.
College of Idaho lands at number three in the preseason poll after going 38-22 overall and 22-13 in NAIA West games last season. The Yotes are coming off an appearance in the NAIA West Tournament title game and return Zach Draper (2.39 ERA, 85 strikeouts) and Hunter Hanson (.348 avg., 48 RBIs) who were both named to the All-NAIA West list.
Corban was picked fourth in the poll after a 25-27 season last year, ending at 19-16 in West play. Returning for the Warriors are Jackson Smith, who earned a gold glove as a catcher, and Vince Gonzalez, who was named a gold glove winner at third base.
Fifth in the poll is Oregon Tech who finished 17-38 a season ago, going 8-27 in conference games. Evan Johnson returns for the Owls after finishing fourth in the NAIA West in batting average at .354.
The automatic bid to the NAIA National Tournament will be given to the NAIA West tournament champion. The three team double-elimination tournament is slated for May 5-7 and will be held at the site of the regular season champion.
Since LCSC already receives an automatic qualifier as the hosts of the NAIA World Series, if the Warriors win the regular season, hosting responsibilities will fall to whoever is second in the standings. In the event that LCSC wins the postseason tournament, the automatic bid will go to the tournament runner up.
2017 NAIA West Preseason Coaches' Poll
| Place |
Institution |
Points |
2016 Overall |
2016 NAIA West |
| 1. |
Lewis-Clark State (5) |
25 |
51-7 |
30-5 |
| 2 |
British Columbia |
19 |
39-22 |
23-12 |
| 3. |
College of Idaho |
14 |
38-22 |
22-13 |
| 4. |
Corban |
11 |
25-27 |
19-16 |
| 5. |
Oregon Tech |
6 |
17-38 |
8-27 |
First place votes in parentheses