Baseball Comes in at No. 35 in Collegiate Baseball's Preseason Poll
12/21/2021 2:34:00 PM | Baseball
Zags projected to repeat as WCC champs; Gabriel Hughes projected as Pitcher of the Year
SPOKANE, Wash. — Just under two months before its season opener, Gonzaga baseball clocked in at No. 35 in Collegiate Baseball's D-I Preseason Poll released Friday — the first national ranking by a news outlet ahead of the 2022 season.
Collegiate Baseball also predicted the Bulldogs to repeat as West Coast Conference champions, with 2021 Freshman All-American Gabriel Hughes projected as the WCC Pitcher of the Year. Last Wednesday, Hughes was ranked No. 42 in MLB.com's 2022 Draft prospect rankings.
The Zags are coming off a 2021 season that saw them finish with a 34-19 record, winning a WCC title en route to their highest-ever Regional seed in their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2018. GU returns 24 players from that squad, including 2021 All-WCC honorees Tyler Rando (C), Brody Jessee (RHP), Michael Spellacy (RHP), Grayson Sterling (OF) and Trystan Vrieling (RHP), but looks to replace three players selected in the 2021 MLB Draft and four lost to graduation. Overall, GU returns nine of its top ten pitchers by ERA and six of its top ten hitters by average from last season. Collegiate Baseball named Rando and Jessee as the Bulldogs' top returners along with redshirt sophomore catcher/DH Stephen Lund, who led GU in homers in 2021, and RHP Will Kempner, who posted a 3.10 ERA in 11 appearances in 2021.
The Bulldogs' spring schedule includes matchups with three different opponents in Collegiate Baseball's Top 50 that appeared in 2021 NCAA Regionals — Oregon, Oregon State and Oklahoma State — squaring off with all three multiple times. Oklahoma State is ranked No. 7 in Collegiate Baseball's Poll, followed by the Ducks at No. 21 and the Beavers at No. 42. Other scheduled opponents in the receiving votes category include Washington State and conference foes BYU and San Diego.
GU is slated to begin the 2022 season Feb. 18 at the Sanderson Ford Collegiate Baseball Classic in Surprise, Ariz., with matchups against New Mexico and Oregon State. Check GoZags.com for up-to-date game day and schedule information, live stats and more.Full Poll
| Rank | Team (2021 Final Record) | Points |
| 1. | Texas (50-17) | 498 |
| 2. | Vanderbilt (49-18) | 494 |
| 3. | Louisiana St. (38-25) | 491 |
| 4. | Texas Tech. (39-17) | 487 |
| 5. | Stanford (39-17) | 484 |
| 6. | Florida (38-22) | 481 |
| 7. | Oklahoma St. (36-19-1) | 480 |
| 8. | East Carolina (44-17) | 476 |
| 9. | Mississippi St. (50-18) | 474 |
| 10. | Notre Dame (34-13) | 473 |
| 11. | Georgia Tech. (31-25) | 470 |
| 12. | Florida St. (31-24) | 468 |
| 13. | Texas Christian (41-19) | 464 |
| 14. | U.C. Irvine (43-18) | 462 |
| 15. | Louisiana Tech. (42-20) | 461 |
| 16. | Central Michigan (42-18) | 458 |
| 17. | U.C. Santa Barbara (41-20) | 454 |
| 18. | UCLA (37-20) | 453 |
| 19. | Mississippi (45-22) | 451 |
| 20. | Arkansas (50-13) | 448 |
| 21. | Oregon (39-16) | 447 |
| 22. | Arizona (45-18) | 445 |
| 23. | Miami, Fla. (33-21) | 441 |
| 24. | Virginia (36-27) | 438 |
| 25. | North Carolina (28-27) | 435 |
| 26. | Louisville (28-22) | 433 |
| 27. | N.C. State (37-19) | 431 |
| 28. | Duke (33-22) | 430 |
| 29. | Campbell (37-18) | 429 |
| 30. | Michigan (27-19) | 426 |
| 31. | Nebraska (34-14) | 423 |
| 32. | Dallas Baptist (41-18) | 420 |
| 33. | Georgia (31-25) | 418 |
| 34. | Tennessee (50-18) | 415 |
| 35. | Gonzaga (34-19) | 413 |
| 36. | South Alabama (36-22) | 409 |
| 37. | Liberty (41-18) | 404 |
| 38. | Maryland (30-18) | 402 |
| 39. | Connecticut (34-19) | 399 |
| 40. | Alabama (32-26) | 397 |
| 41. | Fairfield (39-5) | 394 |
| 42. | Oregon St. (37-24) | 391 |
| 43. | Arizona St. (33-22) | 389 |
| 44. | South Carolina (34-23) | 386 |
| 45. | Oklahoma (27-28) | 382 |
| 46. | Long Beach St. (24-15) | 375 |
| 47. | Cal Poly (31-25) | 373 |
| 48. | Southern Miss. (40-21) | 370 |
| 49. | Old Dominion (44-16) | 367 |
| 50. | Nevada (25-20) | 364 |
Other Teams Receiving Votes: Clemson (25-27), Baylor (31-20), Washington St. (26-23), California (29-26), Grand Canyon (39-21-1), California Baptist (40-16), Brigham Young (23-27), Abilene Christian (36-21), Sam Houston St. (30-25), San Diego (33-12), Auburn (25-27), Texas A&M (29-27), Kentucky (29-23), Coastal Carolina (27-24), Georgia Southern (34-23), Louisiana-Lafayette (32-23), Creighton (24-15), Tulane (31-24), Wichita St. (31-23), San Diego St. (30-16), Nevada-Las Vegas (20-13), Fresno St. (20-25), Kent St. (30-26), Ball St. (38-18), Wright St. (35-13), Florida Atlantic (32-25), Iowa (26-18), Ohio St. (22-20), North Florida (22-23), Stetson (26-23), Central Florida (31-30), South Florida (31-30), Stony Brook (31-18), Northeastern (36-12), N.C. Wilmington (32-22), Charlotte (40-21), Indiana St. (31-21), Bradley (20-22), Samford (35-24), East Tennessee St. (24-25), Mercer (35-22), Wofford (36-21), Western Carolina (28-21), Southeastern Louisiana (32-24), Northwestern St. (27-26), Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (25-29), Oral Roberts (31-23), North Dakota St. (42-19), Texas-Arlington (27-30), Louisiana-Monroe (26-26), Florida Gulf Coast (28-20), Southeast Missouri St. (30-22), Murray St. (33-25), Bryant (27-14-1), Monmouth (24-13), Rider (23-18), S.C. Upstate (37-16), Seton Hall (23-25), Virginia Commonwealth (38-16), Rhode Island (28-26-1).
