WINTHROP, Mass. – Three-time reigning Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Baseball Champion Johnson & Wales will attempt to extend that streak to four in the 2024 season. The Wildcats come into the season as the preseason favorite as determined by the 2024 GNAC Baseball Preseason Coaches' Poll.

JWU earned 167 points and 11 first place votes cast by the league's 13 baseball head coaches last week.

The Wildcats finished 15-3 in GNAC play (30-15 overall) last season and earned the top seed in the 2023 GNAC Baseball Championship. They cruised their way through the double-elimination tournament without losing a game, eventually besting Anna Maria in the Championship.

As the GNAC Champions, JWU earned the league's automatic qualifier into the 2023 NCAA Division III Baseball Championship and participated in the Bridgewater Regional. After big wins against Middlebury and Bridgewater State, the Wildcats sat in the driver's seat in the regional final. However, they were unable to pick up that last win, falling twice to Endicott in the regional championship.

Mitchell, a new addition to the conference, was picked second in the poll with 141 points and the remaining two first place votes. The Mariners were also NCAA Division III Baseball Regional participants last year after going 11-1 in the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) (33-10 overall) and earning the league's automatic qualifier. In fact, Mitchell served as a host for regional action. Home field was kind early on as the Mariners knocked off Tufts and Wheaton in the early rounds of the regional tournament, but could not get past Wheaton again on the final day.

Anna Maria and Lasell, earned the No. 3 and No. 4 spots in this year's voting with 136 and 131 points, respectively. They were followed by Elms and Saint Joseph's (Maine), which each received 114 points to tie for fifth in the poll.

Another new addition to the GNAC, New England College, received 83 points from the league's head coaches to secure the No. 7 spot, while Rivier ranked eighth with 76 points. Albertus Magnus and Colby-Sawyer tied for ninth place with 46 points apiece. The University of Saint Joseph (Conn.) will conduct its first varsity season this spring and sit in the No. 11 spot in the poll with 45 points. Dean and Norwich each earned 42 points to wrap up the poll.

Mitchell gets the GNAC Baseball season started on Saturday, Feb. 17 as it begins its non-conference slate in North Carolina with the conference schedule getting underway on Saturday, March 23. The teams will play a 16-game schedule featuring single-games on weekdays and Sundays with conference doubleheaders scheduled for every Saturday except the first.

The top eight teams at the end of the regular season earn berths into the 2024 GNAC Baseball Championship Tournament. This year's tournament features a new format as the eight teams will be split into two double-elimination pods. Pod play will take place from Friday, May 3 to Sunday, May 5 with the two pod champions advancing to the 2024 GNAC Baseball Championship Series. The best-of-three GNAC Championship Series is scheduled for Thursday-Friday, May 9-10. The winner of the GNAC Championship Series will be named the 2024 GNAC Baseball Champion and earn the league's automatic qualifier into the 2024 NCAA Division Baseball Championship.

2024 GNAC Baseball Preseason Poll

ABOUT THE GREAT NORTHEAST ATHLETIC CONFERENCE

The Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is an NCAA Division III association made up of 16 member institutions and over 4000 student-athletes across the New England region. Founded in 1995, the GNAC annually sponsors and administers 22 championships, while balancing academic integrity, athletic opportunity and community involvement in an effort to enhance the student-athlete experience.

THANKS IN LARGE PART TO THE GNAC SPORTS INFORMATION OFFICE