The Wayne State College baseball team was listed fourth by league coaches in the 2020 Preseason NSIC Baseball Coaches Poll announced earlier this week.
Defending NSIC regular season and tournament champion Augustana was picked as the team to beat this season in the league, receiving 13 first-place votes, followed by Minnesota State with the remaining two first-place ballots. St. Cloud State came in third at 164 points with Wayne State fourth.
Listed as Wildcat Players to Watch this season were junior designated hitter/second baseman Andrew Hanson and sophomore starting pitcher Ryan Obrecht.
Hanson, a 6-foot-1, 180-pound junior designated hitter/second baseman from Burnsville, Minn., was listed as Wayne State’s Position Player to Watch. Last season, Hanson was named second-team All-NSIC with a .303 batting average. He had five homers and 31 RBI with 12 multi-hit games and ranked second on the team in stolen bases going 14-16. Hanson also collected D2CCA and NCBWA All-Central Region second-team honors after being named first-team All-NSIC as a freshman two years ago.
Obrecht, a 6-foot-4, 170-pound sophomore from Omaha, was tabbed as the Wildcat Pitcher to Watch this season after a standout freshman campaign last season. Obrecht was a first-team All-NSIC last season after recording a 7-2 record in 12 games with a 2.04 ERA. He was the only starting pitcher in the NSIC to not allow a home run and led the NSIC in opponent batting average (.194) while ranking fourth in ERA. Obrecht worked 57.1 innings last season and gave up just 40 hits and 14 runs (13 earned) with 50 strikeouts and just 15 walks that included a streak of 21 1/3 scoreless innings. He was also named D2CCA All-Central Region Second Team last year as a freshman.
The Wildcats were 32-18 last season and finished fifth in the NSIC with a 23-12 league mark. Wayne State is scheduled to open the 2020 baseball season on Friday, Jan. 31 in Cleburne, Texas against Newman (Kan.) at the 4-HIM Classic.
