Feb. 28, 2006

LANCASTER, PA - After a 32-9 season in 2005 and the loss of seven starters from the lineup, the Johns Hopkins baseball Blue Jays earned a tie for second in the 2006 Centennial Conference Baseball Preseason Poll, announced by the league on Tuesday.

The Blue Jays earned 70 votes and two first-place nods from the league's coaches, forcing a tie with Haverford. The Fords were 25-15 last year and enter the 2006 season ranked 43rd in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Division III Preseason Poll.

Franklin & Marshall took to the top spot in the poll, earning 77 votes and six of the first-place variety. The Diplomats concluded the 2005 season with a 25-16 ledger and competed in the NCAA Boyertown Regionals, bowing out after a pair of 1-0 losses to Rowan and Messiah.

Johns Hopkins opens the 2006 season on Friday, March 3 by hosting Messiah at 2 p.m.

2006 Centennial Conference Baseball Preseason Poll (first-place votes in parentheses)

1. Franklin & Marshall - 77 (6)
T2. Haverford - 70 (2)
T2. Johns Hopkins - 70 (2)
4. Gettysburg - 54
5. Ursinus - 50
6. Muhlenberg - 40
7. Dickinson - 36
8. Washington - 26
9. McDaniel - 25
10. Swarthmore - 9