University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota Picked to Finish 6th
2/15/2017 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Chicago, Ill. - The University of Minnesota has been picked to finish tied for sixth place in the 2017 Big Ten Baseball Preseason Poll and three student-athletes made the 2017 Big Ten Baseball Preseason Honors List.
The preseason poll slots the Maroon and Gold to finish tied with Iowa for sixth place in the conference after winning the Big Ten regular season last year with a 16-7 conference record. Maryland was picked to finish first followed by Michigan, Nebraska, Indiana and Michigan State in that order.
Micah Coffey, Lucas Gilbreath and Terrin Vavra were named to the 2017 Big Ten Baseball Preseason Honors List. Last season, Coffey had a .333 batting average along with seven home runs, 13 doubles, 42 RBIs and 28 runs scored.
Gilbreath will move into the Friday starter role after spending time in the bullpen. Last year he had a 3-2 record with a 1.36 ERA and 46 strikeouts in 33.0 innings. Vavra will return to shortstop where he had a .980 fielding percentage in 32 games. Offensively he had a .358 batting average with one home run, six doubles, 20 RBIs and 23 runs scored.
The Maroon and Gold begin play February 17 at UC-Irvine at 8:30 pm central. You can follow the action this year by following the Gophers on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
