INDIANAPOLIS – The 2021 University of Indianapolis baseball team was selected to finish third in the Blue Division of the Great Lakes Valley Conference Preseason Coaches Poll, the league office announced on Wednesday. The preseason poll is voted on by 15 head coaches, while no coach is permitted to vote for their own team.
 
The Blue Division was headed by Lindenwood, who earned 92 points and eight first-place votes, while Southern Indiana came in second with 84 points and five first-place nods.
 
The Greyhounds earned 74 points and two first-place votes. UIndy kicked off the 2020 season with a record of 12-3 and 2-1 in the conference before the season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Hounds went 30-20 in 2019 and 19-14 in the GLVC.
 
Entering his third season as head coach, Al Ready returns slugger Trey Smith, who led the team with 18 hits, four home runs and 18 RBIs, and pitchers Corey Bates and Reid Werner, who led the team in strikeouts last season – Bates with 38 in 24 1/3 innings and Werner with 29 in 24 IP.
 
The Hounds kick off the 2021 season this Saturday at Tusculum in Greenville, Tenn., at 2 p.m. Their first GLVC matchup with be at Missouri S&T on March 12.
 

2021 GLVC PRESEASON POLL
Blue Division

RK	SCHOOL	POINTS (1st-Place Votes)
1.	Lindenwood	92 (8)
2.	Southern Indiana	84 (5)
3.	Indianapolis	74 (2)
4.	Maryville	60
5.	Lewis	48
6.	McKendree	30
7.	Missouri – St. Louis	25

Green Division

RK.	SCHOOL	POINTS (1st-Place Votes)
1.	Quincy	111 (3)
2.	Illinois Springfield	93 (1)
3.	Drury	91 (1)
4.	Missouri S&T	73
5.	Southwest Baptist	54
6.	William Jewell	42
7.	Rockhurst	37
8.	Truman	31