Union, N.J. (2/17/11) - The Kean University baseball team is just one week away from the 2011 season and already they have received pre-season recognition for the upcoming season.In the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA)/D3baseball.com Top 25 poll the Cougars are currently third while the Collegiate Baseball pre-season poll has Kean tabbed fourth. In today's release of the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) pre-season poll, the Cougars are selected by the league's coaches to finish first, with eight first-place votes.

Two individual players have received pre-season recognition. Junior transfer Mike Russo has been selected as the top 2011 Division III draft prospect by Baseball America while senior Ken Gregory has been tabbed as a D3baseball.com 2nd Team Pre-Season All-American.

The Cougars are slated to open the 2011 season on Wednesday, February 23rd when they host Stevens Institute of Technology at 2:30 p.m.

2011 NJAC Baseball Preseason Coaches Poll: 1. Kean (8) 2. Rowan (2) 3. Montclair State 4. The College of New Jersey 5. Rutgers-Newark 6. Richard Stockton 7. William Paterson 8. Ramapo 9. Rutgers-Camden (dark horse) 10. New Jersey City