Cortland State has received the No. 1 preseason nod in the inaugural NCBWA-D3baseball.com Preseason Division III Poll. Cortland State returns an experienced pitching staff headed by George Jweid and a potent offense anchored by gold glove and preseason All-American catcher Mike Zaccardo.

Chapman follows the Red Dragons in the second spot. The Panthers are poised for another run at the title with preseason All-Americans Kurt Yacko and Wayde Kitchens. The No. 3 Kean Cougars are expected to challenge for a second consecutive title. Bryan Burke, a transfer from Frostburg State should provide some spark in the Cougar offense. Wooster with its experienced pitching staff (preseason All-Americans Adam Samson and Anthony Trapuzzan) is ranked fourth and are set on bringing home Walnut and Bronze.

Fifth is Emory, a second place finisher in 2007. The Eagles will need the leadership of preseason All-American second baseman Joe Roth to contend in 2008. At No. 6 is the UW-Stevens Point Pointers. The Pointers are looking to improve on a third place finish in the 2007 championships. Eastern Connecticut is expecting another All-American year from Shawn Gilblair as they claim the seventh spot in this year's preseason tally. Johns Hopkins was one game from an appearance in its second Championship and once again has a team that could go the distance. The top ten is rounded out with perennial challengers, Carthage and Marietta.

D3baseball and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) continues the tradition of D3sports.com polls with the inaugural NCBWA-D3baseball.com Preseason Division III Poll. Weekly polls will rank the top 25 teams starting with the preseason poll released today and weekly starting on Feb. 25 through the NCAA Division III Championship in Grand Chute, Wis. The poll voters come from 25 college baseball writers, sports information directors and related media persons from throughout the nation.


2008 NCBWA-D3baseball.com Preseason Division III Poll

No.	Team	2007 record	Pts.	Previous
1	Cortland State (6)	42-7	583	4
2	Chapman (2)	41-8	556	5
3	Kean (10)	43-8	543	1
4	Wooster (5)	42-7	506	10
5	Emory	43-10	496	2
6	UW-Stevens Point	34-17	486	3
7	Eastern Connecticut	38-12	473	8
8	Johns Hopkins	38-11	457	12
9	Carthage (1)	37-13	439	6
10	Marietta	32-17	438	7
11	UW-Oshkosh	35-12	348	13
12	Pacific Lutheran	35-9	320	9
13	St. Thomas (1)	34-12	317	17
14	College of New Jersey	34-11	300	14
15	Wheaton (Mass.)	34-13	284	11
16	Texas-Tyler	37-1	272	nr
17	Texas Lutheran	37-10-1	250	15
18	Augustana	35-14	219	22
19	Illinois Wesleyan	32-13	213	26
20	Otterbein	32-13	185	20
21	Ithaca	27-15	177	21
22	Luther	31-11	168	16
23	Trinity (Conn.)	30-8	153	19
24	Ferrum	27-18	123	18
25	Keene State	32-15	117	29

Others receiving votes: York (Pa.) 112, Salisbury 85, Rhodes 70, St. Olaf 68, Southern Maine 65, UW-Whitewater 63, Ohio Wesleyan 53, Rowan 46, Keystone 43, Methodist 41, Wartburg 39, Texas-Dallas 39, Gwynedd-Mercy 38, RPI 37, Millsaps 37, George Fox 33, Worcester State 21, St. Scholastica 20, Washington U. 16, St. John Fisher 16, Hampden-Sydney 15, St. Joseph (Maine) 14, Pomona-Pitzer 14, McMurry 13, Hope 11, DeSales 11, Transylvania 10, Rose-Hulman 8, Hardin-Simmons 8, Manhattanville 8, Frostburg State 8, Wilkes 7, Mount St. Joseph 6, Averett 6, Brockport State 5, N.C. Wesleyan 5, Edgewood 5, Oneonta State 5, Lynchburg 4, Montclair State 4, Rockford 2, Westfield State 2, Williams 2, Thomas More 1, Curry 1.