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| By Mike Anderson, NKU Sports Information HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. - The Northern Kentucky University baseball team got the season started on the right foot on Tuesday when Collegiate Baseball named the Norse the No. 26 team in the nation in their 2009 Preseason Poll. It marks the second season in the last three that the Norse have been ranked among the nation’s top 40 teams in Division II. In 2007, NKU started the year No. 21 in the season, while last season NKU received votes in the national poll. NKU returns a majority of a team that went 38-24 last season and won its fourth Great Lakes Valley Conference championship in the last seven seasons. Five All-GLVC award winners and both All-Region award recipients return from a team that loses just two starters and adds an impressive cadre of newcomers to become a force in the Midwest Region. The Norse are joined in the national rankings by two GLVC East foes: Saint Joseph’s, who will open the year at No. 31, and Bellarmine, which shares No. 40 with Cal State-Los Angeles. The Norse and Pumas are scheduled to meet on March 21-22 in Florence, Ky., for a four-game conference set, while Bellarmine visits the Norse on April 4-5. NKU opens the 2009 campaign on Feb. 14-15 with a three-game series against No. 34 Carson-Newman in Jefferson City, Tenn. NKU’s home opener is scheduled for Feb. 28 against Quincy with a noon first pitch. |