Clemson Baseball Picked Second in ACC Atlantic Division by Coaches

Jan. 28, 2010

GREENSBORO, NC – Defending Atlantic Coast Conference champion Virginia, which made its first ever College World Series appearance last June, has been picked as the 2010 preseason favorite in a vote of the league’s 12 head baseball coaches.

The Cavaliers, who return a strong cast that includes All-America outfielder Jarrett Parker, 2009 ACC Freshman of the Year Danny Hultzen and 2009 ACC Championship MVP Dan Grovatt, were projected as the ACC’s 2010 champion on eight head coaches’ ballots. Three coaches chose Florida State, and North Carolina received one vote.

Eleven of the league’s head coaches picked Virginia as the favorite to win the Coastal Division, with defending division champion North Carolina receiving one vote. Florida State was a favored to claim a fourth straight Atlantic Division championship on 10 ballots, while two coaches favored Clemson.

Georgia Tech placed second in the overall Coastal Division preseason coaches’ voting, followed by North Carolina, Miami, Virginia Tech and Duke.

Clemson was picked to finish second in the Atlantic Division, followed by Boston College, NC State, Wake Forest and Maryland.

Teams were awarded six points for each first-place vote, five points for each second-place vote, etc.

Virginia, which won a school-record 49 games in 2009, was joined in the College World Series by North Carolina, which made its ACC-record fourth straight trip to Omaha. Boston College, Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech and Miami also made the 2009 NCAA field, with Clemson and Florida State joining North Carolina and Virginia in the final 16.

ACC teams open their 2010 seasons Feb. 19 and conclude regular-season play May 22. The ACC Baseball Championship will be held May 26-30 at NewBridge Bank Park in Greensboro, N.C.

Complete results of the 2010 ACC Baseball Coaches Preseason Poll are listed below. First-place votes are in parenthesis:

ATLANTIC DIVISIONTeam – Points, 2009 Record Florida State (10) – 70, 45-18. 19-9 ACCClemson (2) – 62, 44-22, 19-11 ACC Boston College – 42, 34-26, 13-15 ACC NC State – 38, 25-31, 10-20 ACC Wake Forest – 21, 22-30, 6-24 ACC Maryland – 19, 27-27, 10-20 ACC

COASTAL DIVISIONTeam – Points, 2009 Record Virginia (11) – 71, 49-15-1, 16-11-1 ACC Georgia Tech – 57, 38-19-1. 17-10-1 ACC North Carolina (1) – 44, 48-18, 19-10 ACC Miami – 42, 38-22, 18-12 ACC Virginia Tech – 20, 32-21, 12-17 ACC Duke – 18, 35-24, 15-15 ACC

Overall champion: Virginia (8) Others receiving votes: Florida State (3), North Carolina (1)