By CODY LINN

Marshall Athletics

ORLEANS – The Sun Belt released its 2023 Baseball Preseason Coaches Poll with the Marshall Thundering Herd picked 13th.  

 MU is under first-year head coach Greg Beals as the team enters its first season in the Sun Belt. 

 The Herd has 16 returning players with 23 newcomers on the rosters. Luke Edwards returns to Marshall after a season that saw him reach base in all but one game and had a 61-game on base streak from the 2021 season until the third to last game of the 2022 campaign. The Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, native finished first in C-USA in hits per game at 1.53, 41st in the country, sixth in Conference USA, 88th in the nation, with 84 hits and 10th in C-USA with 137 total bases. 

 Marshall opens its season in Hoover, Alabama, in a neutral site series next weekend against Saint Louis. 

 2023 SUN BELT CONFERENCE BASEBALL PRESEASON AWARDS
Preseason Player of the Year
Noah Ledford, Georgia Southern (RS Sr., DH – Buford, Ga.)
Preseason Pitcher of the Year
Tanner Hall, Southern Miss (Jr., SP – Zachary, La.)
Preseason All-Sun Belt Team
Tanner Hall, Southern Miss (Jr., SP – Zachary, La.)
Levi Wells, Texas State (Jr., SP – La Porte, Texas)
Zeke Wood, Texas State (Sr., SP – Paris, Texas)
Triston Dixon, Texas State (Sr., RP – Conroe, Texas)
Julian Brock, Louisiana (Jr., C – Fulshear, Texas)
Carson Roccaforte, Louisiana (Jr., 1B – Port Neches, Texas)
Jesse Sherrill, Georgia Southern (Sr., 2B – Pensacola, Fla.)
Dustin Dickerson, Southern Miss (Jr., SS – Laurel, Miss.)
Jarrett Brown, Georgia Southern (Jr., 3B – Savannah, Ga.)
Max Ryerson, Georgia State (Sr., OF – Conway, S.C.)
Carson Paetow, Southern Miss (So., OF – Vancleave, Miss.)
Jose Gonzalez, Texas State (Sr., OF – Spring, Texas)
Noah Ledford, Georgia Southern (RS Sr., DH – Buford, Ga.)
Cameron Jones, Georgia State (Jr., UT – Kathleen, Ga.)
2023 SUN BELT CONFERENCE BASEBALL PRESEASON COACHES POLL
1. Southern Miss (11) – 192
T2. Georgia Southern – 158
T2. Texas State (1) – 158
4. Louisiana (1) – 154
5. Coastal Carolina (1) – 151
6. South Alabama – 123
7. Old Dominion – 116
8. Troy – 109
9. Georgia State – 76
10. James Madison – 73
11. ULM – 58
12. App State – 43
13. Marshall – 36
14. Arkansas State – 23  

For all of the latest information on the Marshall baseball team, follow the Herd on Twitter @HerdBaseball, on Instagram at HerdBSB, and at www.herdzone.com.