Deacons Ranked 15th in Collegiate Baseball Poll
12/24/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Dec. 24, 2002
Winston-Salem, N.C. - Collegiate Baseball has ranked Wake Forest at No. 15 in its 2003 preseason rankings, the newspaper announced Monday. In addition, Wake Forest's Kyle Sleeth (Jr., RHP) and Jamie D'Antona (Jr., 3B) have been named Preseason All-Americans.
The Demon Deacons return all nine starters and ten pitchers from last year's 47-13 team that tied a school record for wins and earned a fifth straight NCAA Tournament berth.
Sleeth was a first team selection on the Collegiate Baseball Preseason All-America team and D'Antona was a second team pick.
Sleeth was a consensus second team All-America selection last season with a perfect 14-0 record, a 2.97 ERA and 119 strikeouts in 113 innings. Over the summer with Team USA, the native of Westminster, Colo., posted a 7-1 record and a 1.13 ERA on the Red, White and Blue Tour.
D'Antona returns as one of the top power hitters in all of college baseball. Last season, the native of Trumbull, Conn., blasted 20 home runs with 83 RBI as a sophomore and in 2001, D'Antona was Collegiate Baseball's Co-National Freshman of the Year.
Wake Forest has ranked in the Collegiate Baseball Top 25 for 26 straight polls dating back to April 30, 2001. Last season, the Deacons opened up the year ranked No. 16 before peaking at No. 2 in late-May.
Defending national champion Texas is the newspaper's preseason number one team, while ACC rivals Florida State (2nd), Georgia Tech (5th), Clemson (18th), and North Carolina (34th) rank in the top 40. Other 2003 Wake Forest opponents on the list include Notre Dame (19th), Nebraska (22nd), James Madison (28th) and Oklahoma State (39th).
Wake Forest raises the curtain the 2003 season on Feb. 11 against Appalachian State at Hooks Stadium.
School ('02 Final Record) Points Final '02 Rank1. Texas (57-15) 496 12. Florida St. (60-14) 493 93. Southern California (37-24) 490 124. Rice (52-14) 489 75. Georgia Tech. (52-16) 485 56. Louisiana St. (44-22) 484 117. Cal. St. Fullerton (37-22) 479 288. South Carolina (57-18) 477 29. Stanford (47-18) 475 410. Houston (48-17) 470 10
11. Mississippi St. (34-24-1) 468 NR12. Arizona St. (37-21) 464 2613. Long Beach St. (39-21) 462 2714. Miami, Fla. (34-29) 458 1715. Wake Forest (47-13-1) 457 1416. Richmond (53-13) 456 1317. Baylor (36-26) 450 NR18. Clemson (54-18) 449 319. Notre Dame (50-18) 447 620. South Alabama (42-19) 445 25
21. Florida Atlantic (46-21) 440 1522. Nebraska (47-21) 438 823. Tulane (36-27) 437 NR24. S.W. Missouri St. (43-21) 432 NR25. California (29-27) 430 NR26. Central Florida (41-22) 424 NR27. Oklahoma (35-27) 423 NR28. James Madison (44-16) 419 NR29. Ohio St. (38-20-1) 416 NR30. Wichita St. (47-17) 411 22
31. Kent St. (37-22) 408 NR32. Stetson (42-19) 405 NR33. Georgia (32-29) 403 NR34. North Carolina (43-21) 398 1935. Texas Tech. (42-20) 395 2436. East Carolina (43-20-1) 392 NR37. Southern (45-10) 390 NR38. Florida International (41-20) 386 NR39. Oklahoma St. (37-21) 380 NR40. Auburn (34-26) 379 NR