RICHARDSON - The Lone Star Conference released the preseason poll for the upcoming 2011 baseball season Tuesday, and Tarleton is picked to finish sixth in the conference.

Last season, Tarleton finished the year 26-25 overall and 21-19 in conference play, good for sixth place in the LSC standings.

Abilene Christian received the majority of the votes and will enter the season ranked No.1 in the conference after winning the LSC tournament in 2010.  While ACU had 29 of the 31 votes, Southeastern Oklahoma and A&M-Kingsville each had a first-place vote.

Besides being picked to finish first in the conference, ACU also had the Preseason Player of the Year named in senior outfielder Aaron Oliver.  Oliver is coming off a junior year in which he was named the LSC Player of the Year, LSC Championship MVP, and to the South Central Regional All-Tournament team.  He was also named player of the year for the South Central region and earned first team All-America honors.

Southeastern Oklahoma, who was picked to finish second in the LSC, had the Preseason Pitcher of the Year honors awarded to Heath Wyatt, a senior reliever for the Savage Storm.  Wyatt led the conference last year with 15 saves and was named LSC Pitcher of the Year and All-South Central Region.

Angelo State was predicted to finish third, while Cameron and Incarnate Word rounded out the top five.

Tarleton will start their 2011 campaign on Feb. 4 as the Texans host Cameron for a game Friday and a double-header Saturday.  First pitch Friday will be at 3 p.m. at the Cecil Ballow Baseball Complex.

Voting for the preseason standings were as follows:

Rank	Team	1st Votes	Total
1	Abilene Christian	29	401
2	Southeastern Okla.	1	320
3	Angelo State		305
4	Cameron		293
5	Incarnate Word		264
6	Tarleton		256
7	A&M-Kingsville	1	243
8	West Texas A&M		193
9	Central Oklahoma		143
10	Eastern New Mexico		141
11	Northeastern St.		113
12	Southwestern Okla.		108
13	East Central		41