Feb. 9, 2001

CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Mid-American Conference preseason baseball poll has been released, and the Bowling Green State University squad has been picked to finish fourth in the East Division. The poll, the result of voting by the league's 13 head coaches, was announced by the league office.

For the second consecutive year, Ball State and Miami have been tabbed to win their respective divisions. The Cardinals, who lost in the MAC Tournament's title game last year to the RedHawks, are favored to win the league tournament title this year, capturing eight votes while Miami picked up three. Ohio and Western Michigan also received one vote each to win the conference tournament.

The Falcons went 29-24-1 overall last year, and finished with a MAC record of 14-12, missing the league tournament by a game. BGSU lost two key members of the starting rotation in Tony Fontana and Joe Cheney, but return seven total pitchers and four positional starters to the 2001 roster.

The Falcons return a pair of senior outfielders in Lee Morrison (.362, 8, 46) and Aric Christman (.337, 6, 25). The two combined for 14 home runs and 71 RBI in 2000 and were named team co-MVPs. The squad's top returning pitcher is senior Craig Menke, who was 5-3 with a 5.28 ERA a season ago.

BGSU is slated to open the 2001 season on Saturday, March 3, with a doubleheader at Eastern Kentucky. The Falcons start both the MAC slate and the home portion of the schedule with a single game against Eastern Michigan on Friday, March 23.

The complete 2001 MAC Preseason Poll follows:

1. Miami (5)          79
2. Kent State (3)     78
3. Ohio (5)           76
4. Bowling Green      53
5. Akron              36
6. Marshall           29
7. Buffalo            13

1. Ball State (11)    76
2. Central Mich. (1)  57
3. Western Mich. (1)  55
4. Northern Ill.      39
5. Toledo             28
6. Eastern Mich.      18

* Ball State     8
* Miami          3
* Ohio           1
* Western Mich.  1

Note: First-place votes in parentheses

East Voting was done on a 7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis
West Voting was done on a 6-5-4-3-2-1 basis