Weekly Release

The seventh season of American Athletic Conference baseball opens Friday (Feb. 14) as all nine teams are in action in non-conference play.

In 2019, ECU (47-18) capped another strong year for the conference after advancing to its fifth NCAA Super Regional and second in four seasons (2001, 2004, 2009, 2016). The Pirates were one of three American teams to book a bid to the NCAA tournament, as UConn advanced to the final of the Oklahoma City Regional and Cincinnati, the 2019 American Tournament champion, competed in the Corvallis Regional, punching a ticket to the national tournament for the first time in 45 years.  

ECU, the preseason favorite in The American, is ranked in all five national polls, including No. 19 in the USA Today Coaches Poll. Houston, picked second in the preseason coaches poll in The American, is ranked no. 35 in the Collegiate Baseball poll and is receiving votes in the USA Today poll, while UConn is tabbed No. 34 by Collegiate Baseball and is receiving votes in the USA Today and NCBWA national polls.

GOLDEN SPIKES
On Feb. 13, USA Baseball announced the 55-player preseason watch list for the Golden Spikes Award, beginning the process of identifying the top amateur baseball player in the country for the 2020 season. The 43rd Golden Spikes Award will be presented on June 11 in Omaha, Nebraska, for the second consecutive year. Two players from The American were named to the watch list, including Alec Burleson of ECU and Hudson Haskin of Tulane. 

Burleson, a junior for the Pirates, was named to four preseason All-America First Teams and was selected as The American's Preseason Player of the Year, while Haskin, a sophomore for the Green Wave, was honored on four preseason All-America Second Teams.