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The Aurora University Spartan baseball program has been selected as the early favorite to capture the 2023 Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) baseball title according to the league's annual preseason poll released Wednesday. The NACC preseason poll is voted on by the NACC's head coaches and athletics communications professionals.
AU accumulated 333 points on the strength of 21 first-place votes to lead the way, following by Milwaukee School of Engineering with 298 points and one first-place vote and Benedictine University with 297 points and three first-place tallies. St. Norbert College (230 points), Edgewood College (229 points and one first-place vote) and Concordia University Wisconsin (199 points) round out the top six positions. Concordia University Chicago (179), Dominican University (158), Marian University (156) and Lakeland University (93). Rockford University (79), Illinois Institute of Technology (59) and Wisconsin Lutheran College (56) round out the poll.
About the Spartans: The Spartans finished the 2022 season with a 36-11 overall record and made the 24th appearance overall and fourth consecutive NCAA Division III Regional appearance. The Spartans earned their place in the 2022 NCAA Division III Championships after winning the 2022 Northern Athletics Conference Conference (NACC) regular season and an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.
AU returns a core of the 2022 team with five returners who hit .320 or better and 29 wins from the pitching staff. ABCA and D3baseball.com All-American Justin Sartori leads the returners along with All-Region selections Jack Fisher, Jett Wedekind and Jacob Ambuel.
Sartori started 47 games during the 2022 campaign, finishing with a .375 batting average, 12 home runs, two triples, 18 doubles, 59 runs scored, and a new AU and NACC single-season record 70 runs batted in. He also finished with a .677 slugging, .461 on-base, and .997 fielding percentage. During his career, Sartori has started 104 games, hitting .375 with 152 hits, 37 doubles, three triples, 17 home runs, and 125 RBIs while posting a .567 slugging percentage.
Wedekind had a .342 average with 10 home runs, one triple, 13 doubles, 59 runs scored and 45 runs batted in while having a .587 slugging and .448 on-base. Also, Wedekind had a .995 fielding percentage behind the plate which included gunning down 18 would be base stealers. Ambuel had a .383 batting average, 18 doubles, one triple, six home runs, 56 runs batted in and 53 runs scored. Fisher finished the 2022 season with a 7-1 record, one save, a 2.79 earned run average in 77.1 innings pitched, striking out 64 and opponents hit .224 against him.
The 2023 Aurora University Spartan baseball program will open the season on Saturday, March 4 against the Penn State Abington at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational. First-pitch is slated for 2:30 pm (est) / 1:30 pm (cst) in Auburndale, Florida.
2023 NACC Baseball Preseason Poll
| Institution | Points |
| Aurora (21) | 333 |
| MSOE (1) | 298 |
| Benedictine (3) | 297 |
| St. Norbert | 230 |
| Edgewood (1) | 229 |
| Concordia Wisconsin | 199 |
| Concordia Chicago | 179 |
| Dominican | 158 |
| Marian | 156 |
| Lakeland | 93 |
| Rockford | 79 |
| Illinois Tech | 59 |
| Wisconsin Lutheran | 56 |
Original source can be found here.
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