Baseball | 1/27/2020 9:24:00 PM

    BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. – With several veteran starters returning, the West Liberty University baseball team has been picked to finish fourth in the Mountain East Conference North Division this spring.
    The announcement came late Monday afternoon when the MEC coaches released the results of their annual preseason poll.
    Mountain East Conference Tournament runner-up Notre Dame received 10 of the 12 first-place votes and 65 points to earn the North's No. 1 spot. Fairmont State, last season's North Division winner, picked up the other two first-place votes and 54 points to check in at No. 2.
    With 37 points in the voting, Urbana barely edged out Coach Eric Burkle's Hilltoppers (35) for third place with newcomer Frostburg State (30) and Wheeling (25) rounding out the division.
    Charleston was a narrow choice over Concord for the top spot in the South Division. West Virginia State was No. 3 followed by West Virginia Wesleyan, Glenville State and Davis & Elkins.
    West Liberty is scheduled to open the 2020 season on Feb. 8 with a doubleheader at Carson-Newman (Tenn.).
  1. Notre Dame (10)                                    65
2. Fairmont State (2)                                 54
3. Urbana                                                       37
4. WEST LIBERTY                                         35
5. Frostburg State                                       30
6. Wheeling                                                   25 1. Charleston (6)                                          61
2. Concord (5)                                               58
3. W.Va. State (1)                                        49
4. W.Va. Wesleyan                                     33
5. Glenville State                                         29
6. Davis & Elkins                                          16