Jan. 3, 2006
ATLANTA – Georgia Tech is ranked 10th in Collegiate Baseball’s preseason poll, while third baseman Wes Hodges, catcher/pitcher Matt Wieters and pitcher Blake Wood were named to the publication’s preseason All-America team.
The Yellow Jackets return eight starters in the field and eight of their top 10 pitchers from last year’s team that went 45-19 and won the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season and tournament championships and advanced to the NCAA Super Regionals.
Hodges, a junior, was named a first-team preseason All-America after leading Tech with a .397 average and 106 hits in 2005.
Wieters, a two-way star who was named the 2005 ACC Rookie of the Year, earned third-team preseason All-America honors. He hit .366 with 10 home runs and led Tech with six saves and a 2.85 ERA last season.
Wood was tabbed to the third-team preseason All-America team after posting a 10-1 record and a 3.13 ERA as a sophomore last season.
Five ACC schools are ranked in the publications’s top 11, including Clemson (No. 6), North Carolina (No. 7), Florida State (No. 8) and Miami (No. 11).
COLLEGIATE BASEBALL PRESEASON TOP 25Rk SCHOOL PTS LAST YR 1. Texas (56-16) 496 1 2. Florida (48-23) 492 2 3. Oregon St. (46-12) 490 7 4. Nebraska (57-15) 489 6 5. Rice (45-19) 487 16 6. Clemson (43-23) 484 13 7. North Carolina (41-19-1) 482 21 8. Florida St. (53-20) 479 15 9. Cal. St. Fullerton (46-18) 476 910. Georgia Tech. (45-19) 475 1011. Miami, Fla. (41-19-1) 473 1412. Arizona St. (42-25) 470 313. Pepperdine (41-23) 469 2314. Missouri (40-23) 467 --15. Louisiana St. (40-22) 466 1916. Long Beach St. (37-22) 463 1817. South Carolina (41-23) 461 2618. Florida Atlantic (37-24) 459 --19. Tennessee (46-21) 458 820. Mississippi (48-20) 456 1121. Southern Calif. (41-22) 455 1722. Notre Dame (38-24-1) 453 --23. Baylor (46-24) 450 424. Tulane (56-12) 449 525. Stanford (34-25) 447 --
