TUCSON, Ariz. -- Arizona Baseball was tabbed as the No. 10 team in the country in the
Collegiate Baseball Fabulous 50 Preseason Poll released this morning.
The Wildcats No. 10 ranking marks the program's best placement in the
Collegiate Baseball preseason poll since checking in at No. 7 prior to the 2017 season.
Arizona closed out the COVID-19 shortened 2020 season with an impressive 10-5 record before reaching Pac-12 play. The Cats will return 11 position players and 11 pitchers from last year's squad including a pair of freshman All-Americans in outfielder
Mac Bingham and right-handed pitcher
Chandler Murphy.
Also returning for the Wildcats is outfielder
Ryan Holgate. The big sophomore bat led Arizona with a .377 batting average in 2020 and has been tabbed as a top talent in the 2021 Major League Baseball Draft by
MLB Pipeline (No. 86) and
D1Baseball (No. 67).
On the mound, Arizona brings back four starting pitchers with sub-3.40 ERAs in
Chandler Murphy,
Garrett Irvin,
Quinn Flanagan, and
Dawson Netz alongside two dominant relievers in
Vince Vannelle and
Preston Price.
Added to their solid core of returning letterwinners is one of the nation's top-ranked signing classes. The Wildcats 2020 signing class is highlighted by two players who participated in the 2019
Perfect Game All-American Classic, five players who were included among the
Baseball America Top 500 pre-draft prospect rankings, and two members of the
Perfect Game Top 100 rankings. This astonishing group of talented players was tabbed as the No. 4 signing class in the country by
Baseball America in September, the highest ranking the publication has ever granted a Wildcats class.
Arizona's 2021 season schedule is expected to be released sometime after the New Year.