Click here for the full 2024 NCBWA East Region Preseason Poll
Click here for the full 2024 NCBWA All-East Region Preseason Team
NEWARK, Del. - - The Wilmington University baseball team will start the 2024 season with some eyes on the program, as the Wildcats were picked 10th in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) East Region Preseason Poll.
The committee also voted on a 2024 NCBWA Preseason All-East Region Team and the Wildcat combo of Matt Warrington and Dom Grady on the mound has Wilmington ready to play again in 2024.
The Wildcats picked up 15 points to slide into the final spot of the Top 10 Preseason Poll. The Wildcats won the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference South Division in 2023 with a 18-6 conference record, going 27-21 overall last season.
Matt Warrington was voted the CACC Pitcher of the Year last year and was a unanimous First Team All-Region selection among the three organizations that produce postseason teams. Warrington went 7-1 in 11 starts last year, throwing two complete games including a 12-strikeout performance against Bloomfield and a 13-strikeout complete game shutout against Alliance. He finished the year with 88 strikeouts in 66.1 innings with only 23 walks, collecting a 2.44 earned run average on the year.
If Warrington wasn't the one finishing out games for the Wildcats, the likely other option was Dom Grady, voted a First Team All-CACC and All-Region reliever. He led the team with a 12.19 strikeout per nine inning ratio, going 3-3 overall with two saves in 21 appearances. He had 42 strikeouts in31 innings, allowing only six walks and finishing with a 2.32 ERA.
Three-time defending East Regional Champion Southern New Hampshire and conference rival Franklin Pierce tied atop the NCBWA Regional Poll to start 2024. SNHU had seven first place votes and 78 total points while Franklin Pierce had two first place votes for their 78 points. Molloy finished third overall with 63 points.
The Wildcats' season begins with a trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, as they play four games in three days at the Ripken Experience. The season starts with a doubleheader against Franklin Pierce on Friday, February 23.
NCBWA East Region Preseason Poll
T1 – Southern New Hampshire (7) – 78 pts
T1 – Franklin Pierce (2) – 78 pts
3 – Molloy – 63 pts
4 – Goldey-Beacom College – 56 pts
5 – Pace – 55 pts
6 – Southern Connecticut State – 46 pts
7 – Queens – 39 pts
8 – Post – 34 pts
9 – New Haven – 22 pts
10 – Wilmington – 15 pts
RV: Felician – 6; Jefferson – 2; St. Thomas Aquinas – 1