FLORENCE, S.C. – The Francis Marion University baseball team, fresh off its first trip to the NCAA Division II College World Series, is ranked sixth in the preseason 2007 Collegiate Baseball Magazine Division II Top 40 poll.

The Patriots ended a record-setting 2006 season ranked sixth with a 41-18 mark. Ten of the squad’s losses were to nationally ranked opponents, five of which were by one run. Francis Marion made its third NCAA tournament appearance in four years.

The Patriots were ranked as high as third in the poll during the 2006 campaign and spent seven weeks in the Top 10. Dating back to the 2005 season, the Patriots have appeared in 34 consecutive national polls.

Five Peach Belt Conference squads are listed in the preseason poll, the most of any one conference. Three other PBC schools were listed among the other schools receiving votes for the poll. Defending national champion University of Tampa occupies the No. 1 position.

FMU head coach Art Inabinet welcomes back 18 lettermen, including six position starters, from last year’s squad. 

Prior to leaving Florence to attend the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) National Convention in Orlando, Fla., where he will be recognized as the 2006 South Atlantic Region Coach of the Year, Inabinet said, “This is a great honor and nice recognition for the student-athletes we have in our program. However, our focus is to obtain a high ranking in the 2007 final poll.”

The Patriots open their 2007 schedule on Feb. 3 with a home doubleheader against Belmont Abbey College. Inabinet enters his seventh year at FMU with a 184-125-1 record at the helm of the Patriots.

Eight opponents that appear on the 2007 FMU schedule are either ranked in the preseason poll or received votes.

Complete NCAA II poll