AUGUSTA, Ga. – The Flagler College baseball team was picked to finish 10th in the 2012 Preseason Peach Belt Conference Coaches Poll, released Friday afternoon by conference officials.

Flagler tallied 27 points with one seventh place vote, two votes each for eight through tenth place, and four eleventh place votes.

The Saints are coming off a season where they posted a 21-28 overall record and a 9-15 mark in the East Division of the PBC, which was good for a tie for fifth place in the six-team division. Overall, Flagler had the 10th-best record in the 12-team league.

Last year's regular season champion, Francis Marion University, is the favorite to repeat with 10 first place votes and one third place for a total of 119 points. Columbus State University is a close second with 102 points and Georgia College was third with 95 points. The defending conference tournament champions, UNC Pembroke, were picked to finish fourth.

Head coach Dave Barnett enters his 25th year at the helm of the program and will have six position players and three starting pitchers returning to the fold. Preseason All-PBC pick Nate Fudala (Cincinnati, Ohio, Turpin HS) will start at third base after splitting time last year between the outfield and the infield. He batted .287 last year and earned first-team all-conference honors. First baseman John Sgromolo (Fleming Island, Fla., Clay HS) returns as the team's leading hitter with a .301 average and he collected a team-high 55 hits. Closer Max Rusch (Fargo, N.D., Des Moines Area CC) also returns after posting a 7-3 record and a 3.13 earned run average in 62.1 innings pitched. He made 27 appearances and recorded eight saves and fanned a staff-best 81 batters. Jonathan Armold (Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Pine Crest School) went 3-7 with a 3.81 ERA and recorded 74 strikeouts.

Coach Barnett also welcomes several newcomers who are expected to make an immediate impact. A trio of junior college transfers will lead the way with pitcher Garrett Bush (Seminole State College), catcher Brett Moreland (Frederick CC), and outfielder Nick Radomski (College of Central Florida). Bush original signed with Auburn University out of high school and has been drafted twice. Moreland earned JUCO All-America honors after hitting .442 with 14 home runs and 89 runs batted in as a freshman. Radomski hit over .300 both years at the JC level.

Flagler will open the season with a three-game home series against the defending national champions, the University of West Florida. The first game will be Feb. 3 at 6 p.m. at Drysdale Field with game at 1 p.m. on Feb. 4 and Feb. 5. The Saints open Peach Belt play on Feb. 18 against Augusta State University at 1 p.m.  

Click here to view the coaches poll (PDF).