STANDISH, Maine – Saint Joseph's College senior pitcher Lincoln Sanborn (Standish, Maine), senior catcher Nic Lops (South Portland, Maine/Cheverus) and junior hurler Corey McNamara (West Newbury, Mass.) have been listed as "Players to Watch," as chosen by NCAA DIII head coaches across the nation, for the 2015 season by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper.
Last spring, Sanborn went 7-1 with a 2.15 ERA along with 54 strikeouts – against just 16 walks – in 58.2 innings. A fifth-year senior who missed the entire 2013 season, the second-year team captain held opponents to a stingy .218 batting average and ranked second on the SJC staff in strikeouts and innings in 2014. Sanborn was tabbed as a Collegiate Baseball Newspaper "Player to Watch" prior to the 2013 campaign as well.
In two years on the hill, Sanborn sports a 14-1 record with a 2.49 ERA and a 114/28 K/BB ratio over 112 innings. He heads into his final collegiate campaign third all-time in ERA and WHIP (1.11) and eighth in BB/9 (2.25) and H/9 (7.71).
As a junior, Lops hit .331 (51-154) while leading the team with 14 doubles and 46 RBI – the eighth-highest total in program history. He also ranked as the conference leader in RBI and earned First Team All-GNAC and Second Team NEIBA All-New England accolades for his efforts.
A .349 (137-392) career hitter, Lops goes into his senior season having scored 59 runs with 26 doubles and 46 RBI over 113 collegiate contests.
McNamara went 5-1 with a 1.49 ERA and five saves to go with 32 K's – and only eight free passes - in 48.1 innings during his sophomore season. A durable right-hander who has been utilized in a variety of roles during his collegiate career, McNamara ranked 25th nationally in ERA while pacing the St. Joe's pitching staff in appearances (19), saves and opponents batting average (.211) a year ago.
McNamara, the 2014 GNAC Tournament MVP and 2014 D3Baseball.com All-New England and NEIBA All-New England honoree, owns a 1.97 career ERA and currently ranks third in team history with eight saves over two seasons.
Saint Joseph's, which received votes in the 2014 Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Preseason Poll, kicks off the 2015 season with a game versus Rhodes College in Atlanta on February 14th at 2:00 PM.
Since 2005, the Monks rank 13th in the nation – out of 370 NCAA DIII programs – in winning percentage (.717) and 14th in total victories (322) with eight NCAA Tournament appearances over the last 10 years. Saint Joseph's is one of just three New England programs to reach the 30-win plateau nine times since 2005.
Last spring, Saint Joseph's went 30-15 overall and 11-3 in GNAC play en route to notching the program's ninth conference championship – and fifth consecutive title - over the last 10 years.
2015 Collegiate Baseball Preseason Poll
| Rank | School | Points |
| 1 | Wisconsin - Whitewater (44-7) | 273 |
| 2 | Emory, GA (38-13) | 270 |
| 3 | St. Thomas, MN (39-9) | 268 |
| 4 | Linfield, OR (37-9) | 265 |
| 5 | Cortland St, NY (36-10) | 261 |
| 6 | Salisbury, MD (37-9) | 258 |
| 7 | Southern Maine (37-15) | 255 |
| 8 | California Lutheran (36-10) | 253 |
| 9 | Concordia - Chicago, IL (39-7) | 250 |
| 10 | Marietta, OH (30-16) | 248 |
| 11 | Webster, MO (37-7) | 245 |
| 12 | Trinity, TX (33-10) | 243 |
| 13 | Rowan, NJ (31-12) | 241 |
| 14 | Wisconsin - Stevens Point (32-13) | 238 |
| 15 | Kean, NJ (35-14) | 235 |
| 16 | Case Western Reserve, OH (32-12) | 231 |
| 17 | Eastern Connecticut St. (32-9) | 229 |
| 18 | Buena Vista, IA (37-9) | 226 |
| 19 | Birmingham - Southern, AL (35-12) | 224 |
| 20 | Shenandoah, VA (33-11) | 220 |
| 21 | Tufts, MA (34-9) | 218 |
| 22 | Baldwin Wallace, OH (30-20) | 216 |
| 23 | Amherst, MA (30-11) | 213 |
| 24 | Bridgewater, VA (36-14) | 210 |
| 25 | Adrian, MI (33-15) | 208 |
| 26 | Wesleyan, CT (31-12) | 206 |
| 27 | Endicott, MA (34-16) | 202 |
| 28 | Moravian, PA (32-12) | 200 |
| 29 | George Fox, OR (28-12) | 196 |
| 30 | Heidelberg, OH (31-13 | 193 |
Also receiving votes: St. John Fisher, NY (31-11), Rhodes, TN (33-17), Gettysburg, PA (33-8), Widener, PA (33-13), Ithaca, NY (26-10), MIT (27-15), Rutgers-Camden, NJ (30-13), Chapman, CA (30-13), Washington – St. Louis, Mo (28-16), La Roche, PA (31-15), Rose – Hulman, IN (29-18) Worcester State, MA (25-17), Johns Hopkins, MD (22-18), SUNY – Old Westbury, NY (20-22), Oswego State, NY (21-13), Manchester, IN (26-17), Saint Joseph's, ME (30-15), Union, NY (26-12-1), Bethell, MN (23-12), Concordia, TX (31-14), Montclair St. (22-18), DeSales, PA (27-16), Haverford, PA (23-20), Wheaton, MA (27-16-1), Penn State Erie Behrend, PA (30-14), Redlands, CA (27-14), Misericordia, PA (31-15-1), Pied-Mont, GA (25-14), Rochester, NY (25-16), Anderson, IN (26-15)
#GOMONKS
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Saint Joseph's College is Maine's only Catholic liberal arts college, providing a supportive, personalized and career-focused education for more than 100 years. From its 430-acre campus on the shores of Sebago Lake, the College offers more than 40 undergraduate programs to a population of approximately 1,000 students. Saint Joseph's College Online provides certificates, undergraduate and advanced degrees for working adults through an online learning program. For more, visit www.sjcme.edu.
