Frog baseball picked to repeat as Mountain West Conference champions
1/18/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Jan. 18, 2007
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- After claiming the regular season and tournament crowns a year ago, TCU has been picked to repeat as the regular season Mountain West Conference baseball champions. In a vote of the seven MWC head coaches and a select media panel, the Horned Frogs received nine of a possible 10 first-place votes and 69 points, while San Diego State (one first-place nod) received 52 points to finish second in the poll. In addition, four Horned Frogs were named to the preseason all-conference team.BYU tallied 47 points for a third-place standing in the poll, while UNLV (43 points) was fourth, New Mexico (34 points) fifth, Utah (22 points) sixth and Air Force (11 points) seventh. The Frogs led the preseason all-conference team with four selections, while New Mexico placed three members on the squad. UNLV, San Diego State, Utah and BYU each had one representative on the squad. Catcher Andrew Walker, shortstop Bryan Kervin, outfielder Austin Adams and pitcher Jake Arrieta were the Frogs preseason all-conference members.
TCU, ranked as high as No. 15 in national preseason polls, returns six starters from last year's NCAA Tournament squad, including preseason All-American Jake Arrieta (Jr., RHP) and 2006 all-MWC selections Andrew Walker (Jr., C), Austin Adams (Sr., OF), Sam Demel (Jr., RHP), Bryan Kervin (Jr., SS) and Matt Carpenter (Jr., 3B). The Horned Frogs were 39-23 overall last season (17-5 MWC) and captured the MWC postseason tournament title.
The Frogs open the season in Orlando, Fla. against UCF on Feb. 9 at 5:30 p.m. (CST).
Mountain West Conference Preseason Poll
1. TCU (10)
2. San Diego State (1)
3. BYU
4. UNLV
5. New Mexico
6. Utah
7. Air Force
Mountain West Conference Preseason Poll
Pos. Name, Class Institution
C Andrew Walker, Jr. TCU
1B Daniel Stovall, Sr. New Mexico
2B Jordan Pacheco, Jr. New Mexico
3B Ian Hollick, Jr. New Mexico
SS Bryan Kervin, Jr. TCU
OF Keith Smith, Sr. UNLV
OF Austin Adams, Jr. TCU
OF John Welsh, Sr. Utah
P Bruce Billings, Sr. San Diego State
P Jake Arrieta, Jr. TCU
UT/DH Apana Nakayama, Sr. BYU
