UMO ranked No. 1 in preseason Conference Carolinas poll

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Published in Sports on January 23, 2014 2:24 PM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

HIGH POINT -- No. 1 ... again.

Ranked No. 5 in two preseason Division II baseball polls, the University of Mount Olive is projected to successfully defend its Conference Carolinas regular-season championship.

The Trojans earned seven first-place votes among the league's eight coaches, and compiled 49 total points.

"I anticipated that," UMO head coach Carl Lancaster said. "Our program, every year we want to be number one and want people to respect us, and I think that is what's being said (in the polls). That's what we work for and I think we've gotten to the point now where people expect us to be up there.

"We're going to give it a run (this season), no question."

King (Tenn.) University received the other first-place nod.

Two points separated third-place Belmont Abbey and fourth-place Erskine (S.C.) College. Pfeiffer (22 points), Limestone (18), North Greenville (15) and Barton (9) rounded out the poll.

"This league this year is going to be good ... really competitive," Lancaster said. "The games that our conference played against Peach Belt teams (last season), we finished over .500, so that's a good thing."

UMO is ranked fifth in the Collegiate Baseball and College Baseball Lineup polls. The Trojans are led by two All-Americans -- pitcher Alex Regan and outfielder/designated hitter Bradon Reitano.

Regan shared the national lead in total wins (14) last season and received All-American recognition from three organizations. Reitano ranked among the top six nationally in runs scored (65) and RBI (62), and concluded the season with a .361 batting average.

King has 19 seniors on its roster. The Tornado, which beat the Trojans in three of four meetings last season, return three all-conference performers -- Tyler Gaby, Garrett Cook and Corey Rhodes.

Reiss Stanley and Alexander Gonzalez join Rhodes in the bullpen.

Belmont Abbey had four all-conference picks in 2013.

"King is going to be loaded," Lancaster said. "Belmont has a ton of kids back. Erskine has some kids back. Pfeiffer is going to be much better."

UMO opens its season Feb. 1 with a double-header against Winston-Salem State. The Trojans play their first six games on the road, including a Feb. 7 contest against defending Division II College World Series champ Tampa (Fla.).