ATLANTA, Ga.- The Savannah State University baseball team has been picked to finish second in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference for the 2026 season.

The voting for the preseason rankings and teams are done by conference baseball coaches.

The Tigers finished the 2025 season with a 32-14 overall record and a 24-9 record in conference play. SSU advanced to the finals of the SIAC Tournament where they lost to Albany State University.

Albany State, the defending tournament champions, was picked to finish first. Following SSU, Spring Hill College was picked to finish third while Edward Waters University, Benedict College and Miles College were picked to finish fourth, fifth and sixth respectively. Rounding out the preseason rankings were Morehouse College (7th), Tuskegee University (8th), Clark Atlanta University (9th), Lane College (10th), Kentucky State University (11th) and LeMoyne-Owen College (12th).

Seven Savannah State players were named to the preseason all conference team with four being tabbed for First Team honors.

Headlining the First Team were pitcher Brayden Thomas, first baseman Tyler Tucker,  relief pitcher Adonis Perez and utility player Johan Sandoval. All four made the 2025 All-SIAC Team.

Thomas finished the year with a team-leading 90 innings pitched, 76 strikeouts and four complete games. He was the starting pitcher 14 times this season and made 16 appearances. Thomas ended the season with a 2.98 earned run average and a 6-2 overall record. Thomas was also named to the ABCA/Rawlings 2025 Division II All-Region Second Team, named the SIAC Starting Pitcher of the Year in addition to having garnered All-SIAC First Team honors.

Tucker, who saw action in 23 games, hit .394 with 28 hits, four doubles, three home runs and 21 RBI; Perez had a 3.37 earned run average to go with his 4-1 record. The senior from Woodbury, New Jersey pitched 34.2 innings and struck out 26 batters; Sandoval batted .340 with 50 hits, 37 RBI and seven home runs while stealing 29 bases.

Earning Second Team preseason honors were  pitchers Austin McCormack and Gregorio Gonzalez ans third baseman Kijani Clarington. 

Last season, McCormack had a 3.31 ERA and a 4-1 record while striking out 26 batters in 32.2 innings while Gonzalez struck out 51 in 56 innings and had a 4-3 record along with his 6.75 ERA. Clarington, who made the all tournament team, saw action in 33 games and had a .297 batting average with 22 runs, 19 hits, six doubles and 17 RBI while stealing nine bases in ten attempts.

Savannah State is set to begin the 2026 season under second year head coach Florentino Burgos on the road against University of Fort Lauderdale in Oakland Park, Florida in a three-games series on January 31-February 1. The teams will play a doubleheader on January 31 and wrap up the series with a single game on February 1.

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