Somerset, NJ –  The Northeast Conference baseball coaches don’t foresee a changing of the guard this spring.
 
Coming off its historic 2016 campaign, defending NEC champion Bryant earned five first-place votes to finish atop the annual preseason coaches’ poll.
 
The Bulldogs, who posted the highest overall win percentage in all of NCAA Division I last spring, have won five consecutive Northeast Conference regular season crowns.
 
Central Connecticut, a former four–time NEC champion under Charlie Hickey, earned the remaining two top nods to finish second in the poll, one spot ahead of rival Sacred Heart. The SHU Pioneers, who are set for their final season under legendary skipper Nick Giaquinto, have been amongst the NEC’s top-three regular season finishers every year since 2009.
 
Fairleigh Dickinson, the 2016 NEC Tournament runner-up, took fourth in the poll. Gary Puccio’s Knights have won games at each of the past two conference tournaments.
 
Wagner, which looks to return to the postseason following last year’s absence, took fifth in the predicted order-of-finish while LIU Brooklyn and Mount St. Mary’s rounded out the selections in sixth and seventh, respectively.

The top-four finishers in the NEC regular season standings will advance to the 2017 Northeast Conference Tournament. For the sixth time in the last seven years, Dodd Stadium in Norwich, CT will provide the backdrop for the league’s four-team postseason event.
 
Reigning NEC Coach of the Year Steve Owens lost three-quarters of his infield to graduation, but Bryant still returns key components from a lineup that produced 7.9 runs per game last spring. Second baseman Cole Fabio (52), the lone returning starter on the infield, and outfielder Nick Angelini (47) ranked third and fourth, respectively, amongst NEC runs leaders in 2016. The latter hit .353 (fourth in NEC) and posted a .466 on-base percentage (second in NEC) en-route to the conference’s Rookie of the Year honor.
 
A pair of all-NEC first team selections headline Bryant’s rotation. Junior James Karinchak, the 2016 NEC Pitcher of the Year struck out 112 batters in 94.2 innings as a sophomore. The 6-foot-3 right-handed hurler went 12-3 while pitching to a league-low 2.00 ERA. Karinchak dazzled during the Bulldogs’ trip to the 2016 Charlottesville Regional, fanning eight batters while spinning 6.1 innings of one-run ball against East Carolina. Crafty lefty Steve Theetge returns for his sophomore season in Smithfield. The Empire State product went 9-0 as a rookie, logging a 2.72 ERA over 16 appearances.
 
The coaches expect Central Connecticut to contend as Charlie Hickey welcomes back a pair of proven commodities. Senior right-hander Andrew Hinckley earned all-league first team honors after an 8-4 campaign last spring. All-NEC second baseman Dean Lockery ranked third amongst league leaders with 72 hits in 57 contests.
 
Sacred Heart will look to send its skipper out on a high note. The Pioneers, who finished one win short of an eighth consecutive appearance in the NEC Tournament championship round last spring, have a roster lined with numerous battle-tested veterans including Keith Klebart, Dan Schock and PJ DeFilippo. Southpaw starter James Taubl returns to the rotation after pitching to a NEC-best 1.69 ERA in conference games.
 
Fairleigh Dickinson, which has seen a rebirth under Puccio, is coming off its best season in more than two decades. The Knights will miss John Giakas, but outfielder Ryan Brennan poses a problem for opposing pitchers. Meanwhile, righty Logan Frati, who went 7-1 in 13 starts last spring, returns to anchor the rotation.
 
 
More #NEC411
? New Mexico State will see two NEC members in the season’s first two weeks. Bryant opens the season with a four-game set in Las Cruces on February 17 and Scott Thomson’s Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers head to the Land of Enchantment for four games beginning on February 24.
 
? LIU Brooklyn’s first-year head coach is no stranger to the Blackbirds’ Faithful. Dan Pirillo earned four varsity letters as an LIU infielder before graduating in 2008.
 
? Fairleigh Dickinson has the earliest scheduled home date amongst NEC teams. The Knights welcome Patriot League member Lafayette to Hackensack on Tuesday, March 7.
 
? Former NEC Player of the Year John Ziznewski (2014) has joined LIU Brooklyn’s staff as an assistant coach.
 
? Bryant has been home to the NEC Rookie of the Year in each of the past five seasons. D1Baseball.com has tabbed Bulldogs’ freshman Jimmy Titus as one who could continue this string.
 
? Former LIU Brooklyn assistant coach Craig Noto is back in the NEC. The New York City native will serve on Jim Carone’s staff at Wagner.