HERNANDEZ CLAIMS FIRST-TEAM HONORS, BASEBALL POLLS RELEASED

The Southland Conference announced the 2010 Preseason All-Conference Baseball Teams and Preseason Polls Tuesday with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi's Trey Hernandez earning first-team honors at first base. The league also released the Southland Conference Preseason Polls.

Hernandez finished the season with a team-best 12 home runs and was third with 33 runs batted in while batting .236. His home run total was ninth in the Southland Conference. In two seasons, Hernandez has amassed 22 home runs which is third all-time for the Islanders. He is averaging .291 in his career after hitting at a .339 clip his freshman season.

"I think it is encouraging to see the respect that Trey earns from the other coaches in the league," said Islander head coach Scott Malone. "His average suffered from a 'sophomore slump', but he was able to maintain his power numbers.

"Trey has been working very hard with the staff to get his swing back to where it was his freshman season. If we are to win like I expect and reach the postseason, we need to have Trey hitting consistently in the middle of our lineup."

After finishing 18-38 a season ago, the Islanders have been picked to finish 11th this season in both the coaches' and sports information directors polls. The Islanders had 23 points in the Coaches' poll and 21 in the Sports Information Director's poll to finish ahead of Nicholls in both.

"I think the thing that has been encouraging in the offseason and in the early part of practice is that the guys have been rallying behind the idea of surprising people," said Malone. "They know we took a step back last year, and are working to take two leaps forward this season. The team is eager to change the direction and mentality of the program."

Both preseason polls were nearly identical with a flip-flop of Central Arkansas and McNeese State for ninth and tenth the only difference. Texas State, which won last season's regular season title, was selected first. The Bobcats received five first-place votes from the coaches and six from the SIDs. Sam Houston State was chosen second with four votes to finish first, while Lamar was picked third with three votes for the top-spot by the coaches and two by the SIDs.

The Islanders open the 2010 season with a three-game series at Chapman Field against Prairie View A&M the weekend of Feb. 19-21.

2010 Preseason All-Southland Conference Baseball Teams

2010 Preseason Southland Conference Baseball Polls