FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WINTHROP, Mass. – Johnson & Wales University (RI), winners of back-to-back GNAC Championships in 2021 and 2022, has topped the 2023 GNAC Baseball Preseason Poll with six first-place votes and 93 points, just ahead of Saint Joseph's College of Maine, which garnered four first-place votes and 92 points in the voting.
A year ago, JWU surprised top seed Saint Joe's in Maine with a dominant 21-6 rout in the do-or-die championship final, marking the Wildcats' second-ever and second straight GNAC crown after topping Anna Maria College in the 2021 GNAC title game.
Saint Joe's last won the GNAC Championship and NCAA Division III automatic qualifier in 2019, and the Monks had a run in which they won six of seven GNAC criowns from 2008-2014.
Making up the remainder of the poll were Anna Maria with 85 points, followed by Lasell University (66), Elms College (63), Norwich University (40), Colby-Sawyer College (39), Albertus Magnus College (30), Rivier University (24), and Dean College (18).
The GNAC landscape will also look different beginning in 2024, with the additions of new core members Mitchell College and New England College, while the University of Saint Joseph (CT) also brings its upstart baseball program to the varsity level one year from now.
2023 GNAC Baseball Preseason Poll
1. JWU (6) - 93
2. Saint Joseph's Maine (4) - 92
3. Anna Maria - 85
4. Lasell - 66
5. Elms - 63
6. Norwich - 40
7. Colby-Sawyer - 39
8. Albertus Magnus - 30
9. Rivier - 24
10. Dean - 18
The Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is an NCAA Division III association made up of 14 member institutions and over 3,500 student-athletes across the New England region. Founded in 1995, the GNAC annually sponsors and administers 22 championships, while balancing academic integrity, athletic opportunity and community involvement in an effort to enhance the student-athlete experience.
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