Old Dominion put two players on the Conference USA preseason all-league baseball team announced Wednesday, and the Monarchs were picked to finish fourth in polling of the 12 head coaches.
Southern Miss players were named both preseason player of the year (sophomore outfielder Matt Wallner) and pitcher of the year (junior Nick Sandlin) and got 11 of the 12 first-place votes to lead the poll. The Golden Eagles, who won the regular-season title a year ago, were followed by defending tournament champ Rice and Florida Atlantic, then ODU.
A pair of ODU sophomores who had outstanding freshman seasons in 2017 were preseason picks: first baseman Vinny Pasquantino and outfielder Kyle Battle.