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9/23/2008 - BASEBALL
Four A-Sun Baseball Programs ranked among top eleven
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MACON, Ga. - In college baseball, there are three states that produce the most talent: California, Texas and Florida. Rivals.com recently ranked four Atlantic Sun schools in the top eleven teams from Florida. FGCU, Stetson, Jacksonville and UNF all earned a spot on the list.
Florida Gulf Coast has taken a page out of Coastal Carolina's playbook. The Eagles joined Division I last season, but is still playing under what the NCAA calls a probationary period. That means the Eagles can't officially win the Atlantic Sun's automatic postseason bid until 2010. Even with the constraints last season, the Eagles finished first in conference with a 25-8 record. They also have an overall record of 38-15.
As with many programs in the area, Stetson is a smaller school that has had a good baseball program for many years. That likely won't change anytime soon. The Hatters had a less than stellar '08 campaign, but have reached an NCAA Regional two of the last three seasons. Stetson has yet to make a huge splash on the national stage, but it certainly is one of the state's better programs.
The Dolphins have had a lot in common with Stetson the past few seasons. Though they had a tough '08 campaign that ended with an unimpressive overall record of 27-29, the Dolphins recently have made some waves with NCAA Regional appearances two of the last three seasons. It'll be interesting to see if JU rebounds from its '08 campaign. JU earned the most headlines in '06 when it finished with an overall record of 43-19.
When the Ospreys left Division II for Division I they knew it wouldn't be easy. Though UNF started its Division I stint on the right foot, it has been unable to make a splash the last two seasons. UNF finished the '07 season with an overall record of 24-32. They ended last season with an overall record of 29-26. While UNF has been unable to turn the corner, coach Dusty Rhodes eventually will guide the program to success.
For the rest of the Florida rankings visit Rivals.com.
