MARLBOROUGH, Mass. – With six first place votes, Salve Regina University claims the top spot in the 2025 NEWMAC Baseball Preseason Coaches Poll. The Seahawks, coached by
Eric Cirella, are fresh off an NCAA World Series appearance and are ranked No. 2 in the D3baseball.com Preseason Poll. All-American and NEWMAC Pitcher of the Year
Sean Mulligan will return after leading the league in ERA (1.99), wins (10), opponents’ batting average (.184) and strike outs (103). First team All-Conference selection
Christian Homa will also return after hitting .388 with 50 RBI last season.
Defending NEWMAC Champions Babson College secured three first place votes and the second spot in the poll. Head coach
Matt Noone returns for his 23rd season at the helm for the Beavers. Babson returns infielder
Brant Savage, who was a 2024 All-NEWMAC first team selection, hitting .341 with eight home runs and a league-leading 22 doubles. Second team All-NEWMAC selection
Tanner Santos also returns after hitting .352 last season.
Coast Guard and Wheaton landed a tie for third place. Coast Guard Head Coach
Brian Casey returns for his fifth year at the helm for Coast Guard, after earning NEWMAC Coaching Staff of the Year in 2024. Highlighting the returners is NEWMAC Player and Rookie of the Year
Nathan Stafford, who hit .473 with 46 RBI. Pitcher
Vito Giordano earned a spot on the first team All-Conference team last season, with a 3.40 ERA and 59 strikeouts.
Wheaton, coached by
Eric Podbelski, returns senior
Timmy Wagner, who hit .343 to lead the Lyons last season. Pitcher
Ben Oliveira will also return to the mound, only allowing opponents to hit .237 off of him last season.
Landing in the fifth spot is MIT, who is led by head coach
Andy Barlow.
Zev Moore returns after batting .311 with 12 stolen bases and 19 RBI.
Brian Rapanan and
Chase Rubin return on the mound for the Engineers. Rapanan tossed 42.1 innings with 44 strikeouts, while Rubin struck out 29 in 35.0 innings of work.
Sixth place goes to WPI. The Engineers will be coached by
Branden Casey and return six hitters to their lineup, including
Andrew Cash and
Tommy Burns, both second team All-NEWMAC selections last season. Cash hit .352 with 10 home runs, while Burns hit .359 with 49 RBI.
Clark University takes the seventh spot in the poll. The scarlet and white bring back all of their top hitters from a season ago, including senior
Ryan Bonja and senior
Carter Doran who earned First and Second Team All-NEWMAC recognition, respectively, a season ago. Bonja hit a team-leading six homers and drove in a team-high 33 runs. Doran scored the most runs on the squad with 46, led the team in total bases with 69, and batted .340.
Springfield College and Emerson College round out the poll in eighth and ninth place, respectively. The Pride, coached by
Mark Simeone and the Lions, coached by
Nick Vennochi, will look to vie for postseason berths this season.
The NEWMAC Baseball Championship will take place from May 7 through May 11.
2025 NEWMAC Baseball Preseason Coaches Poll
1. Salve Regina (6)
2. Babson (3)
T3. Coast Guard
T3. Wheaton
5. MIT
6. WPI
7. Clark
8. Springfield
9. Emerson
About the NEWMAC
The NEWMAC is an association of 12 selective academic institutions: Babson College, Clark University, U.S Coast Guard Academy, Emerson College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mount Holyoke College, Salve Regina University, Smith College, Springfield College, Wellesley College, Wheaton College, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute, that are committed to providing high quality competitive athletic opportunities for student-athletes within an educational and respectful environment that embodies the NCAA Division III Philosophy. The conference also partners with four Associate Members: Norwich University (Football), Simmons College (Rowing), SUNY Maritime College (Football), and U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (Football), while sponsoring 20 sports.