Jan. 20, 2004

Florida Atlantic University is favored to win the Atlantic Sun Conference in 2004 by both the league's head coaches and the A-Sun media after it won the A-Sun Title in 2003 and finished with a 47-16 record.

FAU picked up eight of a possible 11 first place votes in the coaches poll to finish first with 137 points. Stetson placed second in the poll with one first place vote and a total of 111 points, while UCF missed last season's tournament, but is predicted to finish third this season and received one first place vote. The final first place vote went to last year's tournament champion, Jacksonville, who is predicted to finish fourth in both preseason polls.

On the Preseason All-Conference Team, Florida Atlantic placed three individuals on the list along with having the Preseason Player-of-the-Year in outfielder Jeff Fiorentino. A junior from Hollywood, FL, Fiorentino led the squad in batting average, runs, hits and home runs last year and has been named a Third-Team Preseason All-American by Collegiate Baseball.

Left-handed pitcher Randy Beam and second baseman Derek Hutton round out the list for FAU. Beam was named First-Team All-Conference in 2003 after posting a 13-2 record and was perfect in nine conference outings, throwing five complete games and two one-hitters.

Hutton, a junior from Palm Beach Gardens, FL, batted .289 as a sophomore with seven home runs and 39 RBI and was named Second-Team All-Conference. He also was recognized on the Coral Gables All-Regional Team after he hit two home runs and collected six RBI against Florida.

Belmont University was the only other school to have three members on the preseason team. The Bruins finished fourth last season in the universities second season in the Atlantic Sun.

The 2004 A-Sun Tournament will be hosted by Stetson University for the third straight season. The tournament will run from May 26-29 with the winner receiving an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Preseason Coaches Poll
1. Florida Atlantic 137
2. Stetson 111
3. UCF 108
4. Jacksonville 105
5. Belmont 91
6. Troy State 68
7. Gardner-Webb 67
8. Georgia State 55
9. Campbell 49
10. Mercer 39
11. Lipscomb 28

eason All-Conference Team
SP Randy Beam Sr FAU
SP Cy McCuen Sr Stetson
SP Erik Wikstrom Sr TSU
RP Will Tucker Sr Belmont
C Jason Warpool Sr Belmont
1B Dan Soukup Sr Belmont
2B Derek Hutton Jr FAU
3B Orlando Diaz Sr Jacksonville
SS Tom Rispoli Sr Campbell
OF Jeff Fiorentino Jr FAU
OF David Futrelle Sr GWU
OF Clay Timpner Jr UCF
DH Gordie Gronkowski So JU
Preseason MVP: Jeff Fiorentino, FAU