Fontbonne Baseball Slides In At No. 3 In SLIAC Preseason Poll

ST. LOUIS, Mo.—The St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) released its 2022 Baseball Preseason Poll and the Griffins come in third.

Webster, the reigning SLIAC Tournament Champions, are picked to finish first with 49 points and seven first place votes. The Spalding Golden Eagles are picked to finish second with 43 points and one first place vote.

Westminster follows behind Fontbonne with 33 points, while Greenville rounds out the top five with 26 points.

The Griffins are coming off a 2021 season where they went 24-18 overall and set a program record with 19 conference wins. They picked up the No. 3 seed in the SLIAC Tournament and opened with a 14-0 win over Iowa Wesleyan.

However, the team dropped its next game against No. 2 Spalding. After another win over Iowa Wesleyan to stay alive in the tournament, the Griffins ran into the Golden Eagles once again and Spalding came out victorious for the 7-2 win concluding Fontbonne season.

This year, the Griffins return five of its seven SLIAC All-Conference selectees led by Daniel Youngblood who had a career-year at the dish batting .373, totaling 59 hits, 51 runs scored, 18 doubles, nine homers, and 51 RBI.

Thomas Purschke, who joined Youngblood on the First Team, returns after hitting .355, totaling 44 hits, 29 runs scored, and 27 RBI.

Braeden Dobbs earned Second Team honors and looks to build off his 2021 campaign where he set career-highs in average (.342), hits (54), runs scored (38), doubles (13), triples (four), home runs (five), and RBI (36).

Colby Shivers was named to the SLIAC Third Team for the first time in his career after hitting .280, totaling 30 hits, 30 runs scored, seven doubles, four triples, and 19 RBI in his first season as a Griffin. Other players looking to take a leap forward this year include Ty Kueper (.286 avg), Trey Kueper (.270 avg), and Carter Lee (.250 avg).

On the bump, the Griffins look to replace all-time strikeout leader Luke Summers and Ryan Howell who accounted for 146 of the 296 strikeouts last year.

The team does return Nick Glaser who had a strong freshman campaign tossing 57.2 innings, striking out 45 and owned a 3.12 ERA. Southpaw Derek Morganthlaer was a reliable starter for the Griffins leading the team in wins with seven, to go along with his 3.71 ERA.

Out of the pen, Jake Jump is back after striking out 23 batters in 27.2 innings of work and he'll be joined by Tyson Wilson who tied Jump with two saves and sat down 19 batters in 26.0 innings pitched.

To view the entire SLIAC Preseason Poll visit HERE.

About Fontbonne University

Fontbonne University is a private, Catholic liberal arts university located in St. Louis, committed to a transformative education and inspiring students to become global citizens who think critically, act ethically and serve responsibly. The university, founded in 1923, is sponsored by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet. For more information, visit www.fontbonne.edu 

Make sure to follow the baseball team on all its social media accounts: Twitter (@FBUBaseball), Instagram (@fontbonneu_baseball) and Facebook (/FontbonneUGriffins).