BOSTON – The Binghamton was selected as the preseason favorite, taking the top spot in the 2024 #AEBASE Preseason Poll. The Bearcats were picked first in the vote of the league’s head coaches, released on Wednesday afternoon.
The Bearcats entered the 2023 #AEBASE Championship as the No. 3 seed but advanced to the championship game, before falling to Maine for the title. Binghamton earned five of seven possible first place votes for a total of 35 points, while Maine claimed the final two first place votes and had 31 points. UMBC (26), NJIT (19) and Bryant (18) rounded out the top five.
2024 Baseball Preseason Poll
| 1. Binghamton |
35 (5) |
| 2. Maine |
31 (2) |
| 3. UMBC |
26 |
| 4. NJIT |
19 |
| 5. Bryant |
18 |
| 6. UMass Lowell |
10 |
| 7. UAlbany |
8 |
What to Watch for:
- 2023 All-Conference First Team selection Tommy Riefler returns to the Binghamton Roster. Riefler led the conference in batting average (.371) last year.
- The Bearcats also return All-Conference First Team pitcher Gabe Driscoll, and six from last year’s starting lineup
- The reigning #AEBASE Player of the Year, Jeremiah Jenkins, is back for his junior season. Jenkins led the conference in home runs (21) and RBI (76) last season. First-Team All-Conference pitchers Colin Fitzgerald and Gianni Gambardella look to lead the rotation this season.
- UMBC’s returns #AEBASE Rookie of the Year Leewood Molessa for his sophomore campaign. #AEBASE Pitcher of the Year, Luke Johnson, who led the league in ERA, should anchor the rotation in 2024.
- NJIT 2023 #AEBASE First-Team selection Aiden Kidd and 2022 First-Team honoree Albert Choi are back for the Highlanders.
The season begins on Feb. 16 with five teams in action. Binghamton, Bryant, Maine, UMass Lowell and NJIT are all on the road and each play at least three games from Feb. 16-18. UMBC and UAlbany open their seasons the following weekend. Conference play begins on March 15 as Binghamton welcomes NJIT for a three-game series. The rest of the league opens the following weekend as UMBC hosts Binghamton, Maine welcomes Bryant and UAlbany travels to UMass Lowell.
Fans will once again be able to watch the majority of #AEBASE this season. Select games will air on The AE on ESPN while others will air on AmericaEast.TV. Those games will be available on computers, OTT devices and the brand new America East app, which is available on all IOS and Android devices and can be found by searching ‘America East Conference’ in app stores.
Follow the @AmeriaEast Twitter account to stay up-to-date on America East softball news all season long and use #AEBASE to join the conversation.
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