IRVINE, Calif. – The Concordia University Irvine baseball team has been picked second in the 2022 PacWest Preseason Poll. The Green & Gold finished the 2021 season with a 21-15 record, claiming the second-best overall win percentage (.583) in the conference behind PacWest preseason-favorite Azusa Pacific (.767). The Eagles were on the brink of earning their first NCAA DII tournament playoff berth in 2021 but fell just short due to a reduced three-team regional, a move that was made by the NCAA to account for the CCAA canceling their season.
 
 

PacWest Preseason Poll
	Team	Points
1	Azusa Pacific	81
2	Concordia	67
3	Biola	57
4	Point Loma	51
5	Fresno Pacific	43
6	Hawai'i Hilo	40
7	Academy of Art	30
8	Holy Names	22
9	Hawai'i Pacific	14

Despite losing 19 players from last year's roster, including nine starters, the CUI coaching staff has been able to reload for 2022. Head coach Joe Turgeon and assistant coaches Matt Fahey and Chase Harrison were able to lock in some key transfers, including: Jackson Collins (Biola), Jorge Arellano (UC Santa Barbara), Richard Castro (Cerritos College), Tristan Hanoian (Oregon), Hayden Winters (Houston), and Michael Dixon (San Diego). With the addition of new arms and big bats, CUI looks to make a push for a PacWest title in 2022.
 
Redshirt Senior Evan Larsen has also been named to the 2022 Preseason All-PacWest team. Larsen led the Eagle pitching staff with 59 strikeouts in 46.1 innings in 2021, going a perfect 5-0 in his nine starts. The Cal State Fullerton transfer was also named Second Team All-PacWest, First Team D2CAA All-West Region, and Second Team ABCA All-West Region last season.
 
On a regional level, Concordia was recently ranked #7 in the west region by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA). The Eagles were ranked as high as #25 in the NCBWA National Top 25 in March of 2021.

 

NCBWA West Region Poll
	Team	Points
1	Azusa Pacific	58
2	Northwest Nazarene	50
3	Chico State	46
4	Western Oregon	40
5	Cal Poly Pomona	39
6	CSU Monterey Bay	33
7	Concordia	23
8	Point Loma	14
9	Central Washington	13
T-10	Stanislaus State / Biola	5

 
Eagles open the 2022 season next Thursday, Feb. 3^rd, at home against Regis University. This will be second time these two squads have faced off, after CUI took three of four games against the Rangers in 2020.
 
Click HERE to view the 2022 Baseball Schedule