MARIETTA, Ohio — The Etta Express once again found themselves placed in top-10 preseason national rankings as the Pioneers are No. 8 in the D3baseball.com/NCBWA (National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association) Preseason Top-25 released Wednesday (Jan. 17) morning.
Johns Hopkins racked up 17 of the 25 first place votes and is the preseason No. 1 team. The Blue Jays received 612 total points. Salisbury is ranked second with 525 points and one first place vote. OAC foe Baldwin Wallace is third receiving 518 points. Endicott (one first place vote, 499 points) and East Texas Baptist (484 points) round out the top five.
Defending national champion Lynchburg received five first-place votes, but only garnered 479 points to place sixth in the preseason poll. Shenandoah placed seventh with 456 points and Marietta received the eighth slot in the poll with 436 points.
The rest of the top 10 includes Wisconsin-LaCrosse (389 points) and Cortland (383).
Marietta posted a 37-13 record last spring and hosted the Super Regional round at Pioneer Park, but was bested by Misericordia in the three-game series. The Pioneers went 14-4 in the Ohio Athletic Conference and was the runner-up during the regular season and in the tournament championship.
The Etta Express will once again play one of the toughest schedules in the nation. Eight opponents on the 2024 schedule are ranked in the preseason poll including No. Salisbury, No. 3 Baldwin Wallace, No. 6 Lynchburg, No. 10 Cortland, No. 11 Misericordia, No. 16 Denison, No. 20 Christopher Newport, and No. 24 Eastern Connecticut. Three others received votes in the poll including Washington & Jefferson, Wittenberg, and Webster.
Marietta opens the 2024 season at the D3 Showcase in North Carolina. The Pioneers play Cortland on February 22rd, Christopher Newport on the 23rd, Lynchburg on the 24th, and Salisbury on the 25th.
The home opener is scheduled for March 15th when the Etta Express hosts the BSN Invitational. The Pioneers will battle Johnson and Wales University with first pitch scheduled for 11:00 a.m.
Fans can follow the Etta Express all year long at
pioneers.marietta.edu. You can also follow the Pioneers on Facebook at
facebook.com/MariettaCollege and @MariettaPioneer on X and Instagram.
