Baseball America has ranked Arizona No. 5 and Arizona State No. 17 in its preseason poll released on Tuesday.
Florida, Stanford, South Carolina and Arkansas are the top four teams in the preseason rankings. Five Pac-12 teams are in the top 25: Stanford, Arizona, No. 14 UCLA, Arizona State and No. 23 Oregon State.
Arizona (39-21, 15-12 Pac-10) returns 18 members from the 2011 club that finished one win shy of the College Station Regional Championship at Texas A&M last June. It was the Wildcats second-consecutive postseason berth and the program’s seventh postseason appearance in the last nine years under head coach Andy Lopez.
Junior pitcher Kurt Heyer, a two-time All-Pac-10 honoree, headlines the Wildcat pitching staff. Junior shortstop Alex Mejia was named a preseason All-American by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and is one of five starting position players returning from the conference’s top hitting lineup a year ago.
The Sun Devils, 43-18 last year, return only three starting position players -- Deven Marrero, Joey DeMichele and Andrew Aplin -- but feature a veteran pitching staff headed by Brady Rodgers, Jake Barrett, Alex Blackford and Trevor Williams.
Arizona opens its season with a three-game series against North Dakota State, Feb. 17-19. The Wildcats are moving this season to Hi Corbett Field for their home games.
The Sun Devils host their annual Alumni Game at Packard Stadium on Feb. 11, then open the regular season with a three-game series against Western Michigan, Feb. 17-19.
