After finishing 7-26 overall and 6-16 in the GPAC, Doane enters the 2008 baseball season with high hopes. However, the GPAC coaches picked the Tigers to finish 11th in the preseason poll. Understandable for a Tiger squad that has finished towards the bottom of the conference the past two years but is only a couple of years removed from a conference tournament championship.
Jeremy Jorgensen enters his first year as the Tiger's head coach, coming to Doane from McCook Community College. There will be a strong mix of returners to go with the several new recruits that were added to the squad. Doane is scheduled to open the 2008 season on February 9 at William Woods University. The first home games are scheduled for February 22 against Colorado Christian College.
Below is the release regarding the GPAC Preseason Poll.
(GPAC Release) Northwestern College, with 134 points and seven first place votes, is the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) baseball coaches' choice to win the 2008 league title. The Red Raiders, champions of NAIA Region III in 2007, are coming off a 37-18 campaign last spring. Dakota Wesleyan was tabbed second, while Midland Lutheran was third in the poll. The Tigers, Warriors, and fifth place Briar Cliff each received one first place vote, while Sioux Falls received three first place picks and was fourth in the balloting.
The GPAC baseball season will once again consist of 24 games and conclude with the GPAC Postseason Tournament on May 1-3 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, at Harmondon Park. The NAIA Region III Tournament will be hosted by the Dakota Athletic Conference at a site to be determined.
Points were assigned on a 12-1 basis and coaches' could not vote for their own team.
Here is the complete GPAC Baseball 2008 preseason coaches' poll:
Team | Points | First Place Votes |
1. Northwestern | 134 | 7 |
2. Dakota Wesleyan | 116 | 1 |
3. Midland Lutheran | 115 | 1 |
4. Sioux Falls | 107 | 3 |
5. Briar Cliff | 105 | 1 |
6. Mount Marty | 89 | |
7. Nebraska Wesleyan | 81 | |
8t. Hastings | 66 | |
8t. Morningside | 66 | |
10. Concordia | 46 | |
11. Doane | 42 | |
12. Dana | 32 | |
13. Dordt | 15 | |