BURNSVILLE, Minn. – The Winona State baseball team was predicted to finish fourth in the 2015 NSIC Preseason Baseball Coaches' Poll, the conference announced today.
 
The Warriors received two first place votes and were picked behind Minnesota State, St. Cloud State and Augustana in the poll and ahead of Southwest Minnesota State in fifth.

Winona State finished fifth in the NSIC last season with a 20-11 conference record and finished 27-22 overall.
 
Winona State's players to watch are Tyler Nehring, an NSIC First Team selection in 2014 at shortstop and Chase Blazier, a gold glove award-winning pitcher last season for the Warriors.
 
Nehring was Winona State's leading hitter last season. He led the team in batting average (.389), hits (72), runs batted in (41), slugging percentage (.600) and on-base percentage (.426). Nehring was fifth in the NSIC last year in batting average, seventh in slugging, eighth in hits and 12th in RBIs.
 
Blazier returns this season as the team's top starter. He was a durable pitcher for the Warriors last season, starting 10 games and posting a 7-2 record (sixth in the NSIC) with a 3.00 ERA (15th in the NSIC), and led the NSIC in fewest walks (6) while pitching the second-most innings per game (6.3) in the conference.
 
Winona State also has the top returning first baseman in the league in Travis Evanson. Coming off a second-team all-conference performance last season, Evanson is a power hitter for WSU, leading the team in home runs last season with 12. Evanson finished third in the NSIC in home runs and was eighth in the NSIC in slugging percentage (.587).
 
The Warriors will officially get their season underway on Thursday, Feb. 5 against Tarleton State in the Astros In Action tournament in Houston, Texas. WSU is scheduled to open its NSIC slate on March 21 with a doubleheader against Bemidji State in Winona.

2015 NSIC Preseason Baseball Coaches' Poll

#	Team (1st Place Votes)	Points
1	Minnesota State (12)	194
2	St. Cloud State (1)	172
3	Augustana	170
4	Winona State (2)	166
5	Southwest Minnesota State	128
6	Northern State	125
7	Concordia-St. Paul	122
8	Wayne State	119
9	Bemidji State	81
10	Minnesota Duluth	76
11	Sioux Falls	72
12	Minot State	62
13	Upper Iowa	43
14	U-Mary	31
15	Minnesota Crookston	14