FRISCO, Texas - The Southland Conference announced its 2023 preseason baseball polls and teams on Friday morning and the Nicholls State University squad was represented by four first-team selections -- Edgar Alvarez (1B), Parker Coddou (SS), Xane Washington (OF), and Tyler Theriot (SP).

In the preseason poll, Nicholls received 59 points to place sixth out of nine teams. The Colonels finished tied for fourth last season in Mike Silva's debut season as head coach. Nicholls also claimed its first winning season since 2017.
 
Alvarez had a strong first season with the Colonels, tying for fourth overall in the Southland in RBIs with 49. He hit .290 on the year and totaled 11 doubles and nine home runs. His homer total tied Washington for the team lead as they both finished just outside of the Top 10 in the league.
 
Coddou proved to be one of the top shortstops in the Southland last season, batting .289 with 50 hits and 32 runs scored. Along with his stellar defense where he had a league-high 161 assists, Coddou drove in 16 runs helped by five doubles, three triples and two home runs. 

Theriot ranked third overall in the Southland in ERA at 3.72 as the Colonels' No. 1 starter and ended the season with 7-5 record. He also ranked in the top 5 of the SLC in opponent batting average (.239) and strikeouts (74).  
 
Washington posted a career year for the Colonels in the outfield, batting .298 with nine homers and 30 RBIs. Along with hitting 11 doubles, Washington was an all-defensive player as he racked up nine assists from the outfield. 

For the preseason poll, regular season champion McNeese was the favorite with seven first-place votes and 118 points, edging out tournament champion Southeastern. The Lions had more first-place votes (10) but finished with 115 points. Lamar (88 points) and New Orleans (87) were separated by a lone point. 

Nicholls finished six points behind Northwestern State (65) for fifth. Following the Colonels were Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (55), HCU (41) and UIW (20). 

The preseason poll is voted on by head coaches and sports information directors in the conference, with coaches selecting the preseason all-conference team.

The 2023 baseball season begins two weeks from today on Friday, February 17. Nicholls opens the '23 campaign that night against Lindenwood with a 6 p.m. first pitch.
 
The 2023 Southland Conference Baseball Championship tournament will be held on May 24-27 at McNeese's Joe Miller Ballpark in Lake Charles, La., with the tournament champion claiming the automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.
 
All nine teams will play a 24-game round robin conference schedule against the other eight teams, with the top seven teams in the conference qualifying for the double-elimination conference tournament.
 

2023 Southland Conference Baseball Preseason Poll

Pl	School	1st	Pts
1	McNeese	7	118
2	Southeastern	10	115
3	Lamar		88
4	New Orleans		87
5	Northwestern State	1	65
6	Nicholls		59
7	A&M-Corpus Christi		55
8	HCU		41
9	UIW		20

2023 Southland Conference Baseball Preseason All-Conference Teams

First Team

Pos.	Name	School	Cl.	Hometown
1B	Edgar Alvarez *	Nicholls	Jr.	Orlando, Fla.
2B	Brad Burckel *	McNeese	Sr.	Lindale, Texas
3B	Josh Leslie *	McNeese	Sr.	Kenosha, Wis.
SS	Parker Coddou *	Nicholls	Jr.	Thibodaux, La.
C	Bo Willis *	Northwestern State	Jr.	Magnolia, Texas
DH	Tre Jones *	Texas A&M-Corpus Christi	Jr.	Houston, Texas
OF	Payton Harden *	McNeese	Sr.	Atascocita, Texas
OF	Brendan Ryan *	Texas A&M-Corpus Christi	Sr.	Leawood, Kan.
OF	Xane Washington *	Nicholls	R-Sr.	Houma, La.
SP	Zach Garcia *	Texas A&M-Corpus Christi	So.	New Braunfels, Texas
SP	Grant Rogers *	McNeese	Jr.	Groves, Texas
SP	Tyler Theriot *	Nicholls	Sr.	Brusly, La.
RP	Burrell Jones	McNeese	Sr.	Holt, Mich.
U	Alec Carr *	UIW	Sr.	Sugar Land, Texas

Second Team

Pos.	Name	School	Cl.	Hometown
1B	Josh Blankenship	Lamar	Sr.	Santa Fe, Texas
2B	Daunte Stuart *	Northwestern State	Jr.	The Woodlands, Texas
3B	Kasten Furr *	New Orleans	Jr.	Ruston, La.
SS	Tyler Bischke	New Orleans	Jr.	Pittsburgh, Pa.
C	Bryce Grizzaffi *	Southeastern	Sr.	Morgan City, La.
DH	Kade Hunter *	McNeese	Sr.	Comfort, Texas
OF	Josh Caraway *	Texas A&M-Corpus Christi	Jr.	Roanoke, Texas
OF	Braden Duhon *	McNeese	Jr.	Moss Bluff, La.
OF	Issac Williams *	New Orleans	Jr.	Alexandria, La.
SP	Cal Carver *	Northwestern State	Sr.	San Antonio, Texas
SP	Tyler LeBlanc *	New Orleans	Jr.	Lafayette, La.
SP	Will Kinzeler *	Southeastern	Jr.	Covington, La.
RP	Dalton Aspholm	Southeastern	Sr.	Baton Rouge, La.
U	Tre' Obregon III	McNeese	Sr.	Sallisaw, Okla.

*-2022 Southland All-Conference Selection