Baseball: Virginia picked to finish second in ACC Coastal Division

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

In a poll of the Atlantic Coast Conference baseball coaches, Virginia was picked to finish second in the ACC Coastal Division. The Cavaliers have been picked to finish first or second in the Coastal by the league’s coaches nine of the last 10 seasons.

Miami topped the Coastal preseason voting for the second-straight year. The Cavaliers will host the Hurricanes April 6-8 at Disharoon Park. UVA will also welcome preseason co-ACC Champion Louisville to the Dish this season May 12-14.

The Cavaliers are a consensus top-25 team and come in as high as No. 16 according to Collegiate Baseball Newspaper. D1Baseball.com, Perfect Game, Baseball America and the NCBWA all have UVA as the No. 19 preseason team in the country. The USA Today Coaches Poll has Virginia as the No. 20 team I the nation.

Returning juniors Jake Gelof and Kyle Teel have each garnered preseason All-America accolades. Gelof, the program’s single season RBI record holder, has received first team preseason All-America nods from CBN, NCBWA and Perfect Game as well as second team honors from D1Baseball.com. Teel, who started all 58 games at catcher last season, was a First Team Preseason All-American according to Baseball America and was listed on the D1Baseball.com All-America Team as a third team honoree.

The 2023 season will commence in Wilmington, N.C. on Feb. 17 at the Hughes Bros. Challenge hosted by UNCW. The Cavaliers will open its home schedule on Feb. 21 against Longwood at 3 p.m., the start of a nine-game homestand.

2023 ACC Baseball Coaches Preseason Poll
First-place votes in parenthesis

Overall ACC Champion
Louisville (6)
Wake Forest (6)
Clemson (1)
Virginia Tech (1)

Atlantic Division
1. Louisville (6) – 89
2. Wake Forest (6) – 84
3. NC State (1) – 58
Florida State – 58
5. Clemson (1) – 47
6. Notre Dame – 38
7. Boston College – 18

Coastal Division
1. Miami (10) – 93
2. Virginia (2) – 75
3. North Carolina (1) – 72
4. Virginia Tech (1) – 64
5. Georgia Tech – 45
6. Duke – 26
7. Pitt – 17