The Lindenwood baseball team has been selected eighth with one first-place vote in the 2020 GLVC Baseball Coaches Preseason Poll, released by the conference on Tuesday. The Lions will compete in the GLVC for the first time this season, after spending the last seven season in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association.
The Lions have encountered many GLVC opponents in recent years, including a two-game series against Missouri-St. Louis and McKendree last year. The Lions split its season series with UMSL in two high-scoring affairs, while Lindenwood swept McKendree. Lindenwood faced Illinois Springfield and Missouri S&T in 2018, while yearly meetings with Southwest Baptist occurred when both teams were members of the MIAA.
Head coach
Doug Bletcher will enter his 13th season with the Lions this spring, compiling a 376-267-1 record at Lindenwood. The Lions were 28-25 in 2019, including an 18-15 record in the MIAA. Lindenwood returns four primary starters on offense, including second-team all-conference outfielder
Bryce Beckmann.
Mitchell Krebs and
Kolby Schulte each garnered honorable-mention all-MIAA recognition, as they held down the middle part of the infield.
Kyle Hentis and
Blake Beckmann will look to have strong senior seasons, as both pitchers have been significant contributors over their Lindenwood careers. Hentis earned third-team all-MIAA honors, while Beckmann was selected as an honorable-mention all-MIAA performer. Beckmann earned NCBWA central region pitcher of the week and MIAA co-pitcher of the week during the season.
Lindenwood opens the 2020 season in Melbourne, Fla. for a three-game series with Florida Tech starting on Thursday. The Lions return home to take on Wayne State on February 8, starting a 21-game home stand over 33 days. Lindenwood will play nine games outside the state of Missouri, six of those being GLVC competitions.
2020 GLVC Coaches Preseason Poll
| Place |
School |
Point (First Place Votes) |
| 1 |
Bellarmine |
212 (11) |
| 2 |
Quincy |
202 (3) |
| 3 |
Southern Indiana |
186 (1) |
| 4 |
Drury |
180 |
| 5 |
Illinois Springfield |
169 |
| 6 |
Maryville |
159 |
| 7 |
Indianapolis |
144 |
| 8 |
Lindenwood |
143 (1) |
| 9 |
Missouri S&T |
117 |
| 10 |
Lewis |
106 |
| 11 |
William Jewell |
71 |
| 12 |
Southwest Baptist |
70 |
| 13 |
McKendree |
49 |
| 14 |
Missouri-St. Louis |
47 |
| 15 |
Rockhurst |
33 |
| 16 |
Truman State |
32 |
