University of Houston Athletics
Baseball Picked Fourth in C-USA Coaches Preseason Poll
1/18/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Jan. 18, 2006
HOUSTON - The University of Houston baseball team was picked to finish fourth in the 2006 Conference USA Preseason Coaches' Poll, released by the league office Wednesday.
UH will be looking to return to the NCAA postseason for the first time since 2003 and will be boosted by the return of seven position starters and all but five letterwinners from a year ago.
Individually, junior righthander and Preseason All-American Brad Lincoln and junior infielder Dustin Kingsbury were listed as Players to Watch in the league. Lincoln became only the seventh player in school history to throw more than 100 strikeouts in a single season in 2004, while Kingsbury is the team's leading returning hitter after batting .341 with six home runs and 58 RBIs a year ago.
No. 4 Rice was the unanimous preseason No. 1 choice, receiving all nine first-place votes from the league's head coaches. No. 12 Tulane was picked second with No. 30 Southern Miss coming in third place.
After the Cougars, UCF, East Carolina, UAB, Memphis and Marshall rounded out the rest of the league.
Rice's Joe Savery was tabbed as the Preseason Player of the Year, while UCF righthander Tim Bascom was picked as the Preseason Pitcher of the Year.
The Cougars, who are ranked No. 32 in Collegiate Baseball magazine's preseason poll, open their 2006 season at 2 p.m., Feb. 7 when they welcome Texas-San Antonio to the friendly confines of Cougar Field.
2006 PRESEASON BASEBALL COACHES POLL
(as selected by C-USA's head coaches)
PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH
1. Rice (9)
2. Tulane
3. Southern Miss
4. Houston
5. UCF
6. East Carolina
7. UAB
8. Memphis
9. Marshall
(first place votes in parentheses)
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Joe Savery, Rice (Sophomore, Pitcher/Infielder)
PITCHER OF THE YEAR
Tim Bascom, UCF (Junior, Righthander)
PLAYERS TO WATCH
T.J. Hose, Sophomore, Pitcher, East Carolina
Adam Witter, Senior, First Baseman/DH, East Carolina
Dustin Kingsbury, Junior, Infielder, Houston
Brad Lincoln, Junior, Pitcher/Infielder, Houston
Adam Frederick, Senior, Infielder, Marshall
Adam Ptacek, Senior, Outfielder, Marshall
Adam Amar, Junior, First Baseman, Memphis
Drew Jaudon, Senior, Pitcher, Memphis
Josh Rodriguez, Junior, Shortstop, Rice
Joe Savery, Sophomore, Pitcher/Infielder, Rice
Daniel Best, Senior, Pitcher, Southern Miss
Marc Maddox, Senior, Infielder, Southern Miss
Mark Hamilton, Junior, Infielder, Tulane
Nathan Southard, Senior, Outfielder, Tulane
Ryan Metcalf, Senior, Shortstop, UAB
Zac Ward, Junior, Third Baseman, UAB
Tim Bascom, Junior, Pitcher, UCF
Matt Ray, Junior, Infielder, UCF
