The Missouri State baseball team was picked to finish third in the 2007 Missouri Valley Conference race in a vote of the league’s coaches, the conference announced Wednesday morning.
The Bears earned 64 points to place third, while Evansville is the favorite to repeat as champions, garnering 75 points and four first place votes. Wichita State received the remaining five first place votes, and totaled 69 points for the second spot in the poll. Creighton (50), UNI (39) and Southern Illinois (35) round out the top six favored to make the MVC Tournament field. Bradley (31), Illinois State (25) and Indiana State (17) fill in the final three spots.
The top three teams in the poll also dominate the preseason all-conference selections, taking 12 of the 14 spots on the team. Senior catcher Clay Coulter, junior outfielder Nolan Keane and junior LHP Ross Detwiler were the three Bears honored.
Coulter was a second-team all-league pick last season, hitting .380 and bombing seven homers to lead MSU. Keane earned first-team laurels in 2006, hitting .331 with six home runs and a team-high 35 RBIs. Detwiler was an honorable mention all-MVC choice as a sophomore, finishing the year with a 7-4 record and 2.81 ERA with 99 strikeouts. The southpaw pitched for Team USA over the summer, going 2-0 and posting a 0.95 ERA.
The Bears open the season Feb. 22 against Dallas Baptist in Frisco, Texas, as the first of four games MSU will play in the Midland Tournament hosted by DBU.
