The America East has released the preseason coaches’ polls for both baseball and men’s lacrosse, and Stony Brook has been unanimously selected as favorite to repeat as conference champions in both sports.
Both teams received all five possible votes. Coaches are not allowed to vote for their own team.
The men’s lacrosse team, fresh off a season in which it went all the way to the quarterfinals of the NCAA national championship tournament, is ranked in the top 10 in the country by the top polls.
The team features four seniors who were drafted in the Major League Lacrosse Collegiate draft at the end of January: Kevin Crowley (first overall pick to the Hamilton Nationals), Jordan McBride (14th overall to the Rochester Rattlers), Tom Compitello (28th overall to the Boston Cannons) and Adam Rand (31st overall, also to Hamilton).
Baseball enters this season after having won an NCAA tournament game for the first time. In the regional round last spring, the Seawolves knocked off NC State to record the first NCAA tourney win in baseball for Stony Brook.
The Seawolves return junior RHP Nick Tropeano, who led the league with 106 strikeouts and was second with a 2.44 ERA last year.
Lacrosse begins its season at home on Feb. 26 at 12 p.m. against the #1/2 Virginia Cavaliers in a rematch of last year’s NCAA quarterfinals.
Baseball will start its season in Boca Raton, Fla., for a three-game series against Florida Atlantic.
