Mountaineers Baseball Ranked No. 7 in CCC Preseason Poll
By Garrett Christensen on Monday, October 31st, 2022 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
LA GRANDE – (Release from Eastern Oregon University) The Cascade Collegiate Conference announced the results of the 2023 Baseball Preseason Poll on Thursday. Eastern Oregon University will start the season at No. 7.
Year No. 3 for Eastern Oregon Baseball is upon us after the program’s reinstatement prior to the 2021 season. The Mountaineers head into the 2023 campaign excited to build and improve upon a 2022 season that had its challenges. Eastern did take a step forward in the 2022 season more than doubling their win total from the prior season. Looking to lead EOU once again is Michael McInerney who enters his third season as the head bench boss.
“We are very optimistic going into the 2022-2023 season. We had our most productive fall to date,” Coach Michael McInerney said. “With the excellent weather, and being able to use the recently installed turf at Optimist Field we feel the most prepared we’ve been heading into Winter.”
Last season, the Mountaineers posted a 11-35 overall record and had a 4-17 record in Cascade Collegiate Conference play. Eastern had only 10 home games on the year going 2-8 while playing a majority of their contests on the road. As the visiting team the Mounties went 6-24. EOU picked up an extra three wins in neutral site matchups.
Eastern does bring back a majority of its starters from a season ago losing only three. Leading the charge on the bump this year for the Mounties will be sophomore Slayder Watterson. As a freshman the righty tossed a strong 26 innings posting a 4.05 ERA. Also returning is the Mounties’ biggest offensive threat a year ago, Elliot Marks. The senior backstop led the team in batting average, OPS, hits, and slugging percentage.
“We have a good core of returners that have done an excellent job taking over leadership roles, and our incoming players are talented and will make immediate impacts on the field,” McInerney said.
The Mountaineers will kick off their season in late January when they head down to Redding, Calif. To take on Simpson for their season opener. Start times will be announced at a later date.
