AMERICUS, Ga. -- The Georgia Southwestern baseball team was picked to finish eighth in the Peach Belt Conference Baseball Preseason Coaches Poll, announced Friday morning by the league. 

The Hurricanes are slated to return two preseason All-Conference players in reigning 2019 Pitcher of the Year Tucker Smith and Jonathan Martin. Smith finished the season 9-3 with a 2.11 ERA in 17 starts as he pitched a total of 115.0 innings and led the PBC in starts, wins, complete games, ERA and innings pitched. Martin finished last season ranked in the PBC top 10 in doubles (7th), triples (6th), at-bats (9th), walks (7th) and was 11th in stolen bases. GSW also returns Tyler Skelton, who led the team with 66 hits and a .307 batting average as well as catcher Jacob Harrell, who finished the season leading with 324 putouts and a .984 fielding percentage. 

Second year head coach Josh McDonald and the Hurricanes are looking forward to having another great season as they went 2-1 in the PBC Tournament, finishing 14-16 in conference play while going 23-30 overall. 

The Hurricanes will open their season on Saturday, Feb. 1 with a three-game set against Barry (Fla.).

The 2020 coaches poll is below with first-place votes in parentheses. Coaches were not permitted to rank their own team.

2020 Peach Belt Baseball
Preseason Coaches Poll