ANNVILLE, Pa. (Baseball) – The Misericordia Cougars were selected as the favorite in the 2020 conference preseason poll conducted among the Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) baseball coaches. The Cougars received 48 points and six first-place votes.
 
DeSales earned 44 points and two first-place votes to be ranked second, and Stevens collected 36 points to rank third. King’s (29 points) and Wilkes (26 points) rounded out the top-five.

The rest of the poll in respective order includes FDU-Florham (19 points), Eastern (12 points) and Delaware Valley (10 points).

A season ago, Misericordia finished the conference slate with an 16-5 record to claim the regular-season title and the top-seed in the conference championship. The Cougars went on to claim the MAC Freedom title with a 7-6 win over DeSales. Misericordia has won the last nine titles.
 
The 2019 MAC Freedom Championship seeds were: No. 1 Misericordia, No. 2 Manhattanville, No. 3 DeSales and No. 4 King’s.
 
Misericordia earned the conference’s automatic qualifier (AQ) to the NCAA Division III Championship. The Cougars swept Christopher Newport in a three game set to advance, but then fell in two games to Washington and Jefferson.  

The 2020 season is set to begin on Feb. 14. The 2020 MAC Freedom Baseball Championship is set for May 1-3 at Owl’s Field in West Lawn, Pa.
 
The 2020 MAC Freedom Preseason Poll and 2019 final standings can be viewed below.
 

2020 MAC Freedom Baseball Coaches' Preseason Poll
Rank	Team	Points	(1st Place Votes)
1	Misericordia	48	(6)
2	DeSales	44	(2)
3	Stevens	36
4	King's	29
5	Wilkes	26
6	FDU-Florham	19
7	Eastern	12
8	Delaware Valley	10
2019 MAC Freedom Baseball Final Standings
Finish	Team	Conf.	Overall
1 (1)	Misericordia	16-5	35-13
t2 (2)	Manhattanville	14-7	24-18
t2 (3)	DeSales	14-7	23-19
4 (4)	King's	12-9	17-19
5	Wilkes	8-13	16-20
t6	Delaware Valley	7-14	13-25
t6	Eastern	7-14	14-24
8	FDU-Florham	6-15	13-26
(#) - Conference Tournament Seed