PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Wichita State University baseball junior infielder
Paxton Wallace was named preseason all-conference at shortstop in The American, the conference office announced Monday, Dec. 30.
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Wallace, who hails from Greenbrier, Ark., batted .256 with 58 hits, 13 doubles and a team-high nine home runs, going along with 35 RBI and 20 walks in 2019. He played and started in 57 of the Shockers' 59 contests last season.
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The American Athletic Conference preseason coaches' poll was also released Monday, with Wichita State being voted ninth by the conference's head coaches.
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Reigning conference regular season champion ECU was tabbed the preseason favorite with 62 points and six first-place votes, while Houston was voted second with 54 points and three first-place votes. UConn rounded out the top-three in third with 49 points.
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Tulane was fourth with 38 points, while UCF was fifth at 37 points and 2019 American Athletic Conference tournament champion Cincinnati was sixth with 33 points.
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USF (20 points), Memphis (19 points) and the Shockers (12 points) rounded out the poll.
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Wichita State is scheduled to open the 2020 season under new head coach
Eric Wedge with a three-game series at Northwestern State (La.) Feb. 14-16.
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WSU's home-opening series is slated for Feb. 21-23 against Texas Southern at Eck Stadium, Home of Tyler Field.
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2020 Preseason Poll
1 |
ECU (6) |
62 |
2 |
Houston (3) |
54 |
3 |
UConn |
49 |
4 |
Tulane |
38 |
5 |
UCF |
37 |
6 |
Cincinnati |
33 |
7 |
USF |
20 |
8 |
Memphis |
19 |
9 |
Wichita State |
12 |
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First-place votes in parenthesisÂ
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Preseason All-Conference Team
P – Jake Kuchmaner, Jr., ECU*
P – Alec Burleson, Jr., ECU
P – Clay Aguilar, Jr., Houston
P – Lael Lockhart Jr, Sr., Houston
RP – Caleb Wurster, R-So., UConn
C – Hunter Goodman, So., Memphis
1B – Grant Mathews, R-Sr., Tulane
2B – Jonathon Artigues, R-Sr., Tulane
SS – Paxton Wallace, Jr., Wichita State
3B – Alec Trela, Sr., Memphis
OF – Dalton Wingo, Jr., UCF
OF – Alec Burleson, Jr., ECU
OF – Hudson Haskin, So., Tulane
DH – Wyatt Stapp, Jr., Cincinnati
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Preseason Player of the Year
Alec Burleson, Jr., ECU
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Preseason Pitcher of the Year
Jake Kuchmaner, Jr., ECU
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* denotes unanimous decision
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