The Southeastern Savage Storm baseball team opens, in a sense, right where it left off last season – right behind Southern Arkansas.
SOSU was picked to finish second in the preseason Great American Conference baseball coaches poll. GAC coaches voted in the poll. Northwestern and Southern Nazarene did not factor into the voting as neither is yet eligible for NCAA postseason play.
The Storm got one first place vote of the nine. Southeastern finished 2012 with a 34-17 record and went 16-8 in the GAC. They return two all-conference first-team pitchers in Brandon Marris (11-4), and Cameron Mann (8-2).
Southwestern is in the middle of the pack, according to the coaches. The Bulldogs, who were 27-19 in 2012 (14-10 GAC), are in the fifth spot in the preseason poll. Pitcher Cole Stephens, who earned second-team All-GAC honors in 2012, is back for his senior campaign.
East Central was in the ninth spot in the poll. The Tigers went 26-23 last season with a 10-13 GAC mark. The Tigers return only eight from the 2012 team and have 18 newcomers.
| 2013 Great American Conference Preseason Baseball Poll | |||
| RANK | SCHOOL (2012 Record) | Points | 1st-Place Votes |
| 1. | Southern Arkansas (37-17) | 63 | 7 |
| 2. | Southeastern Oklahoma State (34-17) | 56 | 1 |
| 3. | Arkansas Tech (26-27) | 48 | 1 |
| 4. | Ouachita Baptist (30-26) | 44 | – |
| 5. | Southwestern Oklahoma State (27-19) | 35 | – |
| 6. | Harding (24-25) | 29 | – |
| 7. | Henderson State (23-27) | 22 | – |
| 8. | Arkansas-Monticello (18-26) | 17 | – |
| 9. | East Central (26-23) | 10 | – |