Missouri baseball team fifth in Big 12 preseason poll

COLUMBIA — The Missouri's baseball team was picked to finish fifth in the Big 12 Conference in a preseason poll of the league's coaches. The ranking is the best for the Tigers sincethey were picked fifth before the 2009 season.

Texas A&M was picked to win the league, receiving eight first-place votes and 64 overall points in the poll. Also ahead of the Tigers in the poll were Texas, Oklahoma and Baylor. The Tigers received 30 total points and were ranked just ahead of sixth-place Oklahoma State.

The Tigers return seven position players, as well as their top two pitchers. All-Big 12 outfielder Blake Brown and New York Yankee draft pick Conner Mach will lead the Missouri offense, while Eric Anderson and Rob Zastryzny return to the mound. Last season, the Tigers won six of Anderson’s seven weekend starts and Zastryzny was named to the All-Big 12 Freshman team.

Missouri starts its season against Auburn at 3 p.m. Friday in Auburn, Ala.