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The Oswego State baseball team is ranked No. 14 in the Collegiate Baseball Division III preseason poll, which was released on Wednesday.
Oswego's ranking is one position higher than 2018's preseason ranking and comes on the heels of the Lakers' second-straight College World Series appearance in Appleton, Wisc.
According to the poll, Oswego is the second-highest ranked team from New York, just three spots back of conference-foe Cortland. Also making an appearance in the magazine's top 40 is Ithaca College at No. 31 while four teams from the state are receiving votes.
In 2018, Oswego won two-consecutive games on the final day of the SUNYAC Championship to upset host Cortland and clinch its second league crown in as many years. After being sent to the NCAA Championship New England Regional in Cape Cod, Mass. as the second seed, the Lakers ran through the bracket at 4-0 to clinch another place in the eight-team World Series.
Much like the 2018 squad, reigning American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) New York Coach of the Year Scott Landers will have to mesh four returning position players with key bench players and talented newcomers in order to continue the program's recent success. SUNYAC Player of the Year and D3baseball.com Honorable Mention All-American Mike Dellicarri returns for his senior campaign. He is joined with classmate Brandon Nicholson, New England Regional Most Valuable Player Ryan Enos and catcher Lukas Olsson.
Those position players will back the pitching staff's left-handed ace Brian Nolan, who had a sub-3.00 earned-run average and a 7-2 record last season.
The five aforementioned players will team with talented role players from a year ago and a group of 19 newcomers as the quest for a third-straight SUNYAC Championship title and fifth-consecutive NCAA Championship appearance commences.
