Jan. 22, 2008

The George Mason baseball team was selected fifth in the Colonial Athletic Association's preseason poll as the Patriots return six starting position players and all but one pitcher from last year's CAA Tournament team.

Old Dominion was the run-away choice for preseason favorite in the poll of the league's 11 head coaches. The Monarchs received nine first-place votes and 99 total points. The VCU Rams, last year's CAA Champions finished second with 87 points. The UNC Wilmington Seahawks, the host of the CAA Tournament, was third with 77 points while Delaware was fourth with 69 points. The Blue Hens received the other two first-place votes.

The Patriots received 58 points and are expected to finish 2008 in the same spot they finished 2007. The top six teams in the conference's regular-season standings earn bids to the CAA Tournament and a shot at the conference's automatic spot in the NCAA College World Series.

Sixth in the poll was Georgia State with 54 points followed by James Madison with 48, William & Mary with 38, Northeastern with 35, Towson with 26 and Hofstra with 12.

The 2008 baseball season begins on Feb. 22 when the Patriots play at College of Charleston at 5 p.m.