IRVING — Conference USA announced its 2015 preseason coaches’ poll and preseason awards on Wednesday and UTSA was selected to finish fifth.
Rice was tabbed the unanimous favorite to win the league championship. The Owls have won either the regular season or tournament championship in each of its nine years as a member of C-USA.
The Owls’ senior catcher John Clay Reeves was selected as the league’s Player of the Year, while junior left-hander Blake Fox was tabbed Pitcher of the Year.
Joining UTSA in the top five are FIU, Old Dominion and Southern Miss.
The Roadrunners posted a 35-26 record in 2014 and earned the No. 7 seed in the conference's postseason tournament. UTSA made it to the championship game against top-seeded Rice but dropped a 11-5 decision to end its season.
The Roadrunners return 17 letterwinners, including five starting position players.
Catcher John Bormann is back after batting a .288 clip in his third season and he tallied 60 hits, including 12 doubles and four home runs. He notched 24 RBIs and scored 23 runs with a .404 slugging percentage and .991 fielding percentage.
Meanwhile, Brock Hartson led the pitching staff with a 2.24 ERA in his 16 starts. The right-hander posted a 7-3 record and tossed two complete games in 104.1 innings. He finished fourth in the league with 84 strikeouts.
UTSA’s 55-game slate this spring will feature 17 contests against NCAA regional participants in addition to its competitive 30-game C-USA schedule. The Roadrunners will open the campaign on Feb. 13 with a three-game home series against Louisiana-Lafayette.