2019 PacWest Baseball Preseason Poll
1.	Azusa Pacific (7)	78
2.	Point Loma (2)	73
3.	Concordia	56
4.	Biola	52
5.	Academy of Art	42
6.	Fresno Pacific	41
7.	Hawai`i Hilo	24
7.	Hawai`i Pacific	24
9.	Holy Names	15
First-place votes in parenthesis

PRESEASON ALL-PACWEST TEAM

IRVINE, Calif. – Azusa Pacific was picked by the PacWest coaches to win a third-consecutive PacWest title, while Point Loma’s Micah Pries was selected as the Preseason Player of the Year, and Ben Kaser from Academy of Art is the Preseason Pitcher of the Year.
 
Two-time PacWest defending champion Azusa Pacific received seven first-place votes and is the preseason favorite to win the PacWest in 2019. The Cougars have four Preseason All-PacWest selections returning to the roster after the Cougars finished runner-up in the NCAA West Region in 2018 with a 41-11 overall record.
 
The left side of Azusa Pacific’s infield returns Mychael Goudreau and Osvaldo Tovalin, who are both preseason award winners. The two infielders started all 52 games for the Cougars last year and had a combined .308 batting average in 2018. Justin Gomez is back behind the plate for the Cougars after batting .339 last season with 22 extra-base hits. Nick Estrella returns from Azusa Pacific’s pitching rotation. In his sophomore season, Estrella had 61 strikeouts in 51 innings pitched.
 
Point Loma returns the Preseason PacWest Player of the Year and received two first-place votes. Pries recorded a .386 batting average as a sophomore to lead Point Loma in that category. He started all 52 games and tallied a team-high 142 total bases as he helped the Sea Lions qualify for the NCAA West Regional. John Balliet was also a Preseason All-PacWest selection after leading the Sea Lions in ERA at 1.56, while also recording a .303 batting average as a position player. Travis Takata is the Preseason All-PacWest second baseman after registering a .315 batting average as a sophomore.
 
Concordia is picked third in the preseason poll by the PacWest coaches. The Eagles went 19-21 in conference play last year. Concordia finished the year by winning five of seven games at home.
 
Biola returns two Preseason All-PacWest selections after going 21-19 in PacWest play last year and is picked fourth in the preseason poll. The Eagles return Jerron Largusa and Ryan Gallegos, who were the team’s two leaders in batting average and each had over 100 total bases on the season.
 
Academy of Art is picked fourth and returns Kaser, who is the Preseason Pitcher of the Year. The senior is coming off a strong season for the Urban Knights. Kaser earned six wins in 12 starts throwing 75 innings. He struck out 43 batters and had a 3.97 ERA with three complete games and one shutout. The Urban Knights finished 2018 with a 24-25 record, including an impressive 17-9 mark in home games.
Michael Warkentin is a Preseason All-PacWest selection as an outfielder for Fresno Pacific, which is picked sixth in the preseason poll. Warkentin missed most of last year, while the Sunbirds won 15 PacWest games. In 2017, he led the Sunbirds in batting average at .333 with a .394 on-base percentage.
 
Hawai`i Pacific and Hawai`i Hilo are tied for seventh place in the preseason poll and both teams landed players on the Preseason All-PacWest team. The Sharks are represented by Christian Kapeliela, who led HPU in runs (41), RBIs (40) and total bases (113) last season. He had a .407 batting average and helped Hawai`i Pacific to a 22-28 overall record.
 
The Vulcans have three Preseason All-PacWest selections, including pitchers Dylan Spain and John Kea along with utility player RJ Romo. Spain threw a team-high 76.1 innings and Kea led the league with nine saves, which is tied for eighth most in PacWest history. Romo finished 2018 with 46 hits, including 12 that went for extra bases.
 
Holy Names is picked ninth in the PacWest poll after finishing 2018 with a 12-38 overall record, including 8-32 in PacWest play.
 
The 2019 season will begin on February 1 with the top two teams in the West Region last year facing each other as Cal State Monterey Bay visits Azusa Pacific for a three-game series. Concordia will host defending West Region champion UC San Diego in the first week of the season. A few PacWest series will be played in February, but the conference season won’t get into full swing until March, when Point Loma visits Academy of Art. That will be the first chance to see the Preseason Pitcher of the Year face the PacWest Player of the Year when Kaser and Pries face off. The season will wrap up in the first week of May when the top two teams in the preseason poll face each other with Point Loma hosting Azusa Pacific.