CALDWELL, N.J. – The Southern New Hampshire University baseball team was picked eighth in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) NCAA Division II Top 25 and was a unanimous choice for the No. 1 ranking in the NCBWA East Region Poll. Additionally, redshirt-junior Cristian Mercedes (Providence, R.I.), graduate student Josh Roberge (Chelmsford, Mass.) and junior Trevor Anibal (Bedford, N.H.) were all honored with spots on the NCBWA Preseason All-East Region Team.

SNHU, which was a unanimous selection to finish atop the NE10 Northeast Division for a seventh straight season earlier this month, is one of two East Region teams in the top 25. The Penmen received all nine first-place votes in the East Region Poll to finish first, with Molloy College, which is No. 21 in the top 25, placing second.

The Penmen, ranked sixth in the Collegiate Baseball Pre-Season NCAA Division II Poll, is coming off a season in which it finished 46-12, including 21-3 in NE10 play, captured its second straight NE10 title and second consecutive NCAA East Regional crown to advance to the NCAA Division II Championship in Cary, N.C., for the second year and third time in the past four campaigns. 

Mercedes, who made the Preseason All-East Region Team at third base, hit .303 (70-231) with six homers, 43 RBI and 51 runs in 56 contests a year ago. Roberge, one of four starting pitchers named to the squad, was 9-5 with a 3.38 ERA and a 101-to-33 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 93-and-a-third innings.. Anibal claimed the only relief pitcher spot after going 5-0 with four saves and a 2.14 ERA as the closer last season. He whiffed 52 and walked just 13 in 39-and-a-third.

The Penmen open up the 2023 season Friday, Feb. 17 (4:30 p.m.) with the first of a three-game set at 11th-ranked Colorado Mesa University. SNHU is slated to kick off its home slate Friday, March 31 (3 p.m.) against cross-town rival Saint Anselm at Penmen Field.

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