GOLDEN, Colo. (Jan. 27, 2020) – Oklahoma Christian will start the season among the top 10 baseball teams in the South Central Region.

The Eagles were voted 10th in the preseason region poll produced by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and released Monday. Twelve sports information directors – six from the Lone Star Conference and six from the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference – vote in the poll, which will be released each Monday during the regular season.

The NCBWA also announced its preseason All-Region teams, with OC senior pitcher Gabe Rodery named to the second-team list. Rodery, a left-hander from Verdigris, Okla., was a second-team All-Region pick as a sophomore after going 7-3 with a 2.79 ERA, seven complete games, three shutouts and 80 strikeouts in 84 innings.

OC is coming off a 28-20 season during which the Eagles were in the running for a NCAA Division II postseason berth until the final week. The Eagles spent most of last season in the NCBWA regional top 10, rising as high as No. 6, after not appearing in the preseason poll.

Colorado Mesa, which went 53-12 and won last season's South Central Region title, topped the poll with eight first-place votes and 116 points. Angelo State (Texas), the regional runner-up with a 46-12 record, received the other four first-place votes and 112 points to finish second. Another LSC team, West Texas A&M (41-12), was third with 92 points.

Colorado School of Mines was fourth with 80 points, followed by Dixie State (Utah) with 64 points, Lubbock Christian (Texas) – last season's Heartland Conference champ – with 58 points, Texas A&M-Kingsville with 56 points, Colorado-Colorado Springs with 25 points, Arkansas-Fort Smith with 19 points and OC with 18 points.

Receiving votes in the poll were St. Edward's (Texas), St. Mary's (Texas) and Metro State (Colo.).

OC will open its season with a three-game LSC series at Texas A&M-Kingsville, starting on Friday