CLEVELAND – The Mid-American Conference released its 2020 Preseason Baseball Coaches poll on Wednesday with Western Michigan baseball picked to finish seventh with 57 points.

Western Michigan is picked to finish seventh ahead of Eastern Michigan, Toledo, Bowling Green and Akron. Central Michigan was picked to win the league with three first-place votes while Kent State was picked to win the MAC Tournament with six votes.

WMU has three all-conference selections returning to the field led by First Team All-MAC performer Blake Dunn. Dunn led the Brown & Gold last season in batting average, runs, hits, triples, slugging percentage, on-base percentage and stolen bases. Also returning is Second Team All-MAC selections Drew Devine and Brady Miller.

The Broncos are coming off an 18-31 overall record a season ago with an 11-14 record in conference play. WMU boasted the MAC's fourth best offense with a .287 batting average while registering a .422 slugging percentage and 32 home runs.
Western Michigan begins the 2020 campaign with a three-game series beginning on Friday, Feb. 14 at Southern California. The Broncos play their first 23 games away from home before its first home series, March 27-29 against in-state rival Central Michigan. All home games are played at Robert J. Bobb Stadium at Hyames Field.

Below is the 2020 MAC Baseball Preseason Coaches' Poll:
MAC Baseball Preseason Poll (First-Place Votes)
1. Central Michigan (3) – 109 points
2. Kent State (2) – 106 points
3. Ball State (3) -- 105 points
4. Miami (2) – 93 points
5. Northern Illinois (1) – 68 points
6. Ohio – 67 points
7. WESTERN MICHIGAN – 57 POINTS
8. Eastern Michigan – 38 points
9. Toledo – 33 points
10. Bowling Green – 30 points
11. Akron – 20 points
 
Tournament Champion: Kent State (6), Miami (2), Ball State (1), Central Michigan (1), Northern Illinois (1)