University of Minnesota Athletics
MINNESOTA BASEBALL TEAM RANKED 26TH IN PRESEASON NATIONAL POLL
1/22/1999 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Baseball America also selected senior Robb Quinlan as its preseason Big Ten player of the year and junior left-hander Ben Birk as its preseason Big Ten pitcher of the year.
Quinlan set single-season school records with 24 home runs, 97 hits, 87 runs scored and 188 total bases in 1998 en route to earning first-team All-Big Ten and second-team All-America honors. The Maplewood, Minn., native is already the school's career leader in total bases and is poised to set new school records in hits, home runs, runs scored, at-bats and slugging percentage.
Birk, also cited as the publication's top major league prospect in the conference, finished 8-2 with a 2.65 ERA as he earned third-team All-Big Ten honors. After missing the first month of the Big Ten season with a shoulder injury, the St. Paul, Minn., native came back to post a 4-0 league record with a 0.34 ERA.
The Golden Gophers return 15 of 18 letterwinners from a team that finished 45-15 with a Big Ten Tournament championship and a bid to the NCAA Baseball Tournament. The 45 wins established a new school record. Minnesota opens it season at the Metrodome with the Galyan's Gopher Pro-Alumni game on Feb. 8 at 6:30 p.m.
1999 Baseball America's Preseason Rankings
1. Southern Cal (53-20) 2. Long Beach State (43-23) 3. Miami (51-12) 4. Florida State (52-20) 5. Wichita State (55-7) 6. Rice (46-17) 7. Stanford (42-14) 8. Louisiana State (48-19) 9. Georgia Tech (41-22) 10. Florida (46-18) 11. Texas A&M (46-18) 12. Arizona State (41-23) 13. Alabama (46-18) 14. Clemson (43-16) 15. Cal-State Fullerton (47-17) 16. North Carolina (42-23) 17. Wake Forest (43-23) 18. Auburn (46-18) 19. Texas Tech (44-20) 20. Washington (41-17) 21. Oklahoma State (40-21) 22. Arkansas (38-21) 23. California (22-32) 24. Houston (34-25) 25. South Carolina (44-18) 26. Minnesota (45-15) 27. UCLA (24-33) 28. Baylor (41-20) 29. Notre Dame (33-16) 30. Mississippi State (42-23) (1998 records in parentheses)
