MOBILE, Ala. — South Alabama’s baseball recruiting class is ranked No. 29 in the nation by Collegiate Baseball newspaper, making the Jaguars the only Sun Belt Conference school in the publication’s top 40.
The rankings were released last week.
Rebuilding After a Title Season
Coach Mark Calvi and his staff signed 10 players to National Letters of Intent in November and added five more signees for the 2014 season.
South Alabama lost 15 seniors to graduation and two juniors to the Major League Baseball draft from last season’s team, which won the Sun Belt championship and played in an NCAA regional. Among the departed players are Jordan Patterson, Kyle Bartsch and Dylan Stamey.
To replace them, the staff signed a mix of high school and junior college players, aiming to add experienced newcomers to go with returning players and to help the freshmen adjust to Division I baseball.
National Company
Florida topped the Collegiate Baseball rankings, followed by Mississippi State, Florida State, Miami and Oklahoma State. Southeastern Conference schools in the top 40 include LSU, South Carolina, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt, Arkansas and Georgia.
The schools ranked immediately around South Alabama were Texas Tech (27), TCU (28) and California (30).
Fall Practice Next
South Alabama opens fall practice Monday, Oct. 7, at Eddie Stanky Field.
