Baseball Picked Seventh in MIAA

ANGOLA, IND.  --  The Trine University baseball team was picked to finish seventh in this year's Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Coaches Preseason Poll.

Adrian (Mich.) College was selected as the favorite with seven of eight first-place votes.  Hope (Mich.) College was second and received one first-place vote and Kalamazoo (Mich.) College rounded out the top three teams.

Last season, Trine finished with a 15-25 overall record and were 8-20 against MIAA opponents.  The Thunder will return one of two players who earned All-MIAA honors last season in junior pitcher Adam Wheaton (Kalamazoo, Mich./Hackett Catholic Prep).

Wheaton posted an overall earned run average of 3.09 in 2019 to rank second on the team and also ranked second in wins with four (4-4 overall).  He started all 11 appearances made and included three complete games and one shutout.  Wheaton led the team in innings pitched (58.1) and strikeouts (61).  His 61 strikeouts led the MIAA and ranked in the top-five in Trine program history.  Wheaton recorded seven games with five or more strikeouts, including a season and career-high 12 "K's" against Olivet in mid-April.  

In addition to his 61 strikeouts leading the conference, Wheaton's 3.09 ERA ranked as the sixth best and he also ranked in the top-10 in both innings pitched (8th - 58.1) and wins (t-10th - four).

Trine is scheduled to start the 2020 season on Saturday, Feb. 22 with a doubleheader in Danville, Ky. against Hanover College and Centre (Ky.) College.  The game against Hanover is scheduled for an 11 a.m. start, followed by a matchup against Centre at 1:30 p.m.