Baseball

1/19/2010

Baseball picked No. 8 in Peach Belt preseason poll

Coach Kermit Smith

GREENWOOD - The Lander baseball team, under the direction of first-year coach Kermit Smith, was picked to finish eighth of 12 teams in the Peach Belt Conference according to a coaches' poll released today.

Smith takes over a Lander team which finished 25-23 overall last year and was 8-17 in the PBC. Last year, Smith led Belmont Abbey to the NCAA Division II College World Series. Belmont Abbey posted a 40-26 overall record and won the Carolinas Conference regular-season title with a 14-5 mark.

USC Aiken was picked to win the conference title after garnering eight first-place votes and 114 points. Francis Marion was tabbed second after claiming two first-place votes and 111 points, North Georgia, with one first place vote and 96 points, is third, and Georgia College, recorded one first-place vote and 89 points for fourth.

Columbus State (81 points) is fifth and is followed by: 6. UNC Pembroke (73), 7. Armstrong Atlantic (70), 8. Lander (40), 9. Augusta State (35), 10. Flagler (33), 11. Montevallo (28), and 12. Georgia Southwestern (22).

Lander returns All-PBC Bud Lanier, a senior outfielder who led the Bearcats in hitting with a .379 average and had 10 home runs, one triple, six doubles and 36 RBI. Also returning are AJ Nunziato and Robert Skinner. Nunziato who missed all but 21 games last year due to an injury, had one homer, three triples, five doubles and 23 RBI. Skinner batted .350 with five homers, eight doubles and 33 RBI. The Bearats top returning pitcher is lefthander Drew Elliott, who posted a 4-5 record with a 3.58 ERA.

Lander opens the season at 4 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 2 when the Bearcats host Wingate in a non-conference game at Legion Field.