BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bears of Bridgewater State University are the preseason pick to win the 2012 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Baseball championship in a vote of the league’s coaches.

Bridgewater State, the defending league tournament champion, claimed five first place votes to amass 61 points in taking the top spot in the poll.  The Bears slightly edged defending conference regular season champion Westfield State’s total of 59 points that included the other three first place votes.

Worcester State is next in third place with 44 points, while Salem State follows in fourth place with 35 points. Framingham State and Massachusetts Maritime are next in fifth and sixth place, respectively, with 31 and 24 points, while Fitchburg State and MCLA round out this year’s coaches poll in seventh and eighth place, respectively, with 23 and 11 points.

Behind the watchful eye of Head Coach Rick Smith, the BSU baseball team is coming off a 26-17 season in 2011 as the Bears captured the MASCAC Tournament title and advanced all the way to the championship round of the NCAA Division III New England Regional.

Smith, who is entering his 19th season at the helm, has produced a career coaching mark of 449-242-4 (.649).  His teams have won nine MASCAC regular season and four conference tournament championships, and made nine NCAA Division III Tournament appearances.

On the mound, the Bears are led by senior right-handers Corey Batista (Fall River, Mass.) and Jim Balboni (Townsend, Mass.).  Batista, the 2011 MASCAC Pitcher of the Year and First Team All-New England selection, posted a record of 7-3 with a 1.78 earned run average, nine complete games, five shutouts and 79 strikeouts in 70 2/3 innings of work last season.  Balboni was a perfect 5-0 with a 2.03 ERA, 30 strikeouts and a pair of complete games in 40 innings.  He is 14-1 over his first three seasons at Bridgewater.

First Team All-MASCAC senior left fielder Ian Williams (Taunton, Mass.) as well as second team selections, junior catcher Keane Costa (Fairhaven, Mass.) and junior first baseman David Pierce (East Bridgewater, Mass.), all return to the starting lineup for the Bears.

Williams batted .333 a year ago with three home runs, 23 runs scored and a team-leading 43 runs batted in.  Costa posted a .331 batting average with 19 runs and 18 RBI while striking out just six times in 129 plate appearances.  Pierce hit at a .313 clip in 2011 with 11 doubles, 35 runs scored and 23 batted in.

Also returning from last year’s lineup are junior centerfielder John Garabedian (Mansfield, Mass.), junior shortstop Jose Polanco (Lawrence, Mass.) and senior third baseman Matt Barsaleau (Holland, Mass.).  Garabedian was one of three Bears to play and start in all 43 games last season.  Polanco played in 26 games at shortstop and four at third base.  Barsaleau started 19 games, 18 of those at third base.

Bridgewater opens the season with nine games in Vero Beach, Florida beginning with a March 3rd contest versus Northwestern College (MN).  After returning to New England, the Bears host the University of Southern Maine in a doubleheader on March 17th.  MASCAC play begins on March 31st with BSU traveling to Framingham State University to take on the Rams.