Boston College Athletics
Baseball Team Ranked 38th in Preseason Poll
January 06, 2004 | Baseball
Jan. 6, 2004
The Boston College baseball team earned the 38th ranking in Baseball America's preseason poll released Jan. 5. It is the highest preseason ranking in Coach Pete Hughes' five-year tenure at Boston College. The Eagles cracked the magazine's top-100 in the 2001 preseason poll, ranking 100th but did not place within the top-50 in the 2002 or 2003 preseason polls. Baseball America did not list top-100 preseason lists in those years.
The Eagles received the second-highest ranking by a BIG EAST school. Four of BC's opponents this year also made the top-50 cut, including league foe, no. 19 Notre Dame, and no. 12 Auburn, no. 24 Nebraska and no. 47 Florida International. BC placed ahead of nationally renowned programs such as Vanderbilt (40), Wake Forest (45) and Tennessee (46).
Last year's Eagle squad finished with the program's second-highest win total (33-21) to pave the way for a spot in the poll. This season, BC returns seven of eight positional starters and all but one starting pitcher, a staff of hurlers which featured the nation's 23rd lowest ERA (3.66) in 2003.
BC junior Chris Lambert (Manchester, N.H./Manchester Memorial) earned Baseball America's Preseason All-American Second Team honors in an announcement made Jan. 2. Lambert was one of two BIG EAST players mentioned on any of the three teams and the only conference hurler honored.
In 2003, Lambert posted an 8-2 record and a 2.71 earned run average in 79.1 innings of work. The right-hander tied for the league lead in strikeouts (88), while ranking fifth in ERA, tied for fourth in wins, second in opponents' batting average (.216), fifth in innings pitched and second in complete games (seven). His last seven appearances were complete outings, and he won his final four BIG EAST starts, including a one-hitter against Pittsburgh on May 4. Lambert earned BIG EAST Pitcher-of-the-Week honors three times in 2003.
Baseball America Preseason Top-50
1. Rice 2. Louisiana State 3. Miami 4. Cal State Fullerton 5. Georgia Tech 6. Stanford 7. South Carolina 8. Texas 9. Long Beach State 10. Tulane 11. Clemson 12. Auburn 13. Baylor 14. Wichita State 15. North Carolina 16. Arizona 17. Mississippi 18. Arizona State 19. Notre Dame 20. Florida 21. Texas A&M 22. Florida State 23. Florida Atlantic 24. Nebraska 25. North Carolinia State 26. California . 27. Houston 28. Southern California 29. Southern Mississippi 30. Minnesota 31. Mississippi State 32. Ohio State 33. Coastal Carolina 34. Pepperdine 35. Washington 36. Alabama 37. Oklahoma State 38. Boston College 39. UC Riverside 40. Vanderbilt 41. UNC Greensboro 42. South Alabama 43. East Carolina 44. Richmond 45. Wake Forest 46. Tennessee 47. Florida International 48. Virginia Commonwealth 49. Lamar 50. Stetson
