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Coppin State’s baseball team received votes in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper 2023 Preseason Poll, which was released on Dec. 20. The Eagles join Central Connecticut State as the only Northeast Conference (NEC) programs to receive votes in the Top 50 Poll.
Tim Ruffino, who is a 2019 Bowling Green School graduate, pitches for Coppin State University. Last year, Ruffino pitched to a 4-2 record with a 3.66 earned run average.
Ruffino will be a redshirt junior this season.
Collegiate Baseball also picked Coppin to finish second in its NEC Poll, following the Blue Devils who finished second in the league last season. Following the Eagles are defending NEC Champions Long Island, Fairleigh Dickinson, Merrimack, Wagner, Delaware State, Norfolk State, Sacred Heart, Maryland Eastern Shore and Stonehill.
Additionally, Jordan Hamberg was the publication’s pick for Preseason Player of the Year. Hamberg was an NCBWA All-American and ABCA All-Region selection in 2022 while also earning MEAC Pitcher of the Year and First Team All-Conference honors. Additionally, Hamberg was one of five finalists for the John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year.
Infielders Sebastien Sarabia and Brian Nicolas were also recognized by Collegiate Baseball as Other Top Players to Watch. Both Sarabia and Nicolas were First Team All-MEAC honorees last season while Nicolas was named the Most Outstanding Player of the 2022 MEAC Tournament.
Coppin is coming off a historic season where it won a school-record 24 games, won its first conference championship since 1995 and advanced to its first-ever NCAA Regional. The Eagles open the 2023 season, its first in the NEC, in a three-game series on February 17-19 against Saint Peter’s at Joe Cannon Stadium in Hanover, Md.