DALLAS – WKU Baseball senior Richard Constantine was named to the Preseason All-CUSA Team, as announced by league officials Wednesday afternoon.
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Constantine, who played in 32 games while missing a portion of the season due to injury, split time as a designated hitter and first baseman for the Hilltoppers in 2019. Even in limited action, Constantine was still able to finish the season tied for second on the team with seven home runs. The Huntsville, Ala., native also produced a .376/.449/.645 slash line while adding 35 hits, 25 RBI and 22 runs.
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Constantine has also recently received recognition from D1Baseball.com. The site compiled a list of the top 150 hitters in Division I baseball based on analytics, with Constantine coming in at 17th in the nation. The publication also rated him as the 30th-ranked pro prospect in C-USA heading into the 2020 MLB Draft.
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The conference announced its Preseason Coaches Poll as well, with the Hilltoppers projected to finish seventh in the league. WKU finished fourth in C-USA last season en route to the team's first ever Conference USA Tournament victory.
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The Hilltoppers are set to open their season Friday, Feb. 14 when they welcome Valpo to Nick Denes Field.
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2020 C-USA Preseason Coaches Poll (First Place Votes in Parenthesis)
1. Southern Miss (6)
2. Florida Atlantic (4)
3. Louisiana Tech
4. Old Dominion
5. Rice (1)
6. FIU (1)
7. WKU
8. UAB
9. UTSA
10. Marshall
11. Charlotte
12. Middle Tennessee Â
2020 C-USA Preseason Player of the Year
Trei Cruz, Rice
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2020 C-USA Preseason Pitcher of the Year
Logan Allen, FIU
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2020 C-USA Preseason All-Conference Team
SP: Logan Allen, So., FIU
SP: Hunter Gregory, Jr. Old Dominion
SP: Walker Powell, Jr., Southern Miss
SP: Colby Bruce, Sr., Charlotte
C: Nick Thornquist, Sr., UTSA
IF: Trei Cruz, Jr., Rice
IF: Matt Guidry, Sr., Southern Miss
IF: Andru Summerall, RS-Jr., Florida Atlantic
IF: Francisco Urbaez, Sr., Florida Atlantic
IF: Taylor Young, Jr., Louisiana Tech
OF: Zach Davis, RS-Sr., UAB
OF: Bobby Morgensen, Sr., Florida Atlantic
OF: Gabe Montenegro, Jr., Southern Miss
DH/UT: Richard Constantine, Sr., WKU
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