Four Falcons Land on MW Baseball Preseason Team
2/8/2017 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Air Force baseball landed four players on the 2017 Mountain West Baseball Preseason All-Conference Team, the most of any team in the MW, announced today by the conference office. The Falcons were also picked to finish fifth in the preseason coaches poll.
Senior outfielders Adam Groesbeck and Tyler Jones, 3B/DH's senior Bradley Haslam and sophomore Nic Ready were named to the MW preseason team.
Jones led the conference with 19 home runs, 64 RBIs and 16 hit-by-pitches as a junior. The three-year starter in left field has already garnered three different preseason All-America honors entering 2017.
The fleet-footed Groesbeck led the conference in stolen bases each of the last two seasons. The center fielder batted .378 with 60 runs scored last season. His eight triples ranked eighth in the nation.
Haslam is the reigning MW batting champion, batting .408 as a junior, which ranked eighth in the nation. His league-leading 95 hits ranked fifth in all of the NCAA. Haslam has also put together back-to-back seasons batting over .400 in conference games.
Ready was a Freshman All-American and the co-Mountain West Freshman of the Year in 2016. The 3B/DH batted .329 with six homers and 53 RBIs last year, setting a school record for freshmen with 77 base hits.
Air Force is slated to return eight starters in the lineup off of last year's 30-27 team. The Falcons batted .325 as a team, which ranked third in the nation.
The Falcons were picked to finish fifth in the conference, tied with UNLV with 15 votes. New Mexico was tabbed by the coaches to win the conference, with Fresno State falling one vote short in second. Nevada was picked third, San Diego State fourth and San Jose State seventh.
The Falcons open the 2017 season on Friday, Feb. 17, taking on Army West Point and LSU in Baton Rouge, La.
Full MW Release
