The Illinois Wesleyan baseball team has been tabbed to finish second in the annual College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) head coaches' poll, announced on Wednesday, February 10.
The Titans, who were 24-16 last year and 14-7 in conference play, received 42 points with two first place votes as the coaches picked Carthage to defend its 2009 league title, giving them five first place votes and a total of 47 points.
Among the key offensive returners for Illinois Wesleyan, the 2007 and 2008 CCIW champions, are senior second baseman Brett Moore and senior outfielders Mike Morrissey and Kraig Ladd.
Moore was second on the team with a .383 batting average and had 11 doubles, two home runs and a team-leading three triples. His team-best 64 hits is the seventh best in an Illinois Wesleyan single season.
Moore committed only four errors in 194 chances for a .979 fielding percentage.
Morrissey led the Titans with a .394 batting mark, the 18th best in an IWU single season. He had seven doubles, two home runs and drove home 23 runs. He also provided nine sacrifce bunts, third most in a Titan season.
Ladd, a second team ABCA/Rawlings all-region player in 2009, batted .340 with 10 doubles, 38 runs batted in and a team-high nine homers.
Jason Pankau (5-0, 4.73 ERA) Joe Froelich (5-3, 2.15 ERA), Paul Kabbes (3-2, 2.94 ERA) and Alex Tosi (4-0, 3.02 ERA) are among the top returning pitchers from 2009 and the Titans also return Brent Kulavic, who missed last season due to injury.
In 2008 the righthander was 6-1 with a 1.82 ERA, averaging 8.95 strikeouts per nine innings and was National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Central Region Pitcher of the Year, CCIW "Pitcher of the Year", a D3Baseball.com honorable mention All-American and an American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) first team All-Central Region selection.