CLEVELAND, OH – Denison has been selected as the preseason favorite in the 2026 North Coast Athletic Conference baseball coaches' poll, as voted on by the league's head coaches.
The Big Red, seeking their sixth-consecutive NCAC title, received seven of the nine possible first-place votes for a total of 79 points in the league poll. Wittenberg secured second place with 64 points and one first-place vote, while Wabash finished third with 60 points. Wooster collected the final first-place vote and totaled 57 points to place fourth, followed by John Carroll in fifth with 50 points. Kenyon placed sixth with 36 points, while DePauw finished seventh with 28 points, and Ohio Wesleyan (16) and Oberlin (15) rounded out the poll in eighth and ninth, respectively.
Denison, looking for its sixth-consecutive NCAC title, enters the 2026 season ranked No. 2 in the nation, according to the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Preseason Division III Coaches Poll. The Big Red's national ranking follows a historic 2025 campaign in which they finished 41-7 overall and 14-1 in conference play, capturing the NCAC title, the NCAC Tournament title, the program's first Super Regional title and its first trip to the NCAA Division III College World Series.
The Big Red return seven all-conference selections from last season, led by senior outfielder
Erik Sundgren (Pittsburgh, PA/North Allegheny) and junior catcher
Jack Lutte (Venetia, PA/Peters Township), both first-team All-NCAC honorees. Sundgren, a 2026 D3baseball.com Preseason First-Team All-American, led the conference in home runs (17), RBI (81), OPS (1.184), hits (76), total bases (144) and slugging percentage (.735), while tying for the league lead in stolen bases (31). Lutte paced the NCAC with 19 doubles and ranked among the conference's top five in OPS (1.148), batting average (.409), on-base percentage (.510), sacrifice flies (6), runs scored (53) and total bases (95).
A trio of seniors, infielders
Cade Nowik (Lake Forest, IL/Lake Forest) and
Alex Vasquez (Evanston, IL/Evanston Township) and right-handed pitcher
Will Rettig (Perrysburg, OH/Perrysburg), along with junior utility
Jack Rollo (Chesterfield, MO/Mary Inst. & Saint Louis Country Day School) all return for Denison after claiming second-team honors a season ago. Nowik hit .310 a season ago, ranking among the NCAC's top 10 in RBI (41) and at-bats (158), while Vasquez posted a .284 average and finished top 10 in at-bats (162), runs (44), walks (24) and sacrifice hits (7). Rollo hit .298 with a .526 slugging percentage, adding 15 RBI, 11 runs, four doubles and three home runs. Rettig went 6-1 on the mound with a 2.69 ERA, allowing a league-low one double and recording the conference's second-most strikeouts (74) over 63.2 innings. Junior catcher
Andrew Fazio (Minneapolis, MN/Southwest Minneapolis) also returns after earning third-team honors, hitting .320 with 17 runs, four doubles, 22 RBI, 15 walks and six sacrifice flies.
The 2026 season is scheduled to begin Saturday, February 14, with conference play slated to start March 28. The NCAC Tournament will be held Thursday-Saturday, May 7-9, with the tournament champion earning the league's automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Championship.
2026 North Coast Athletic Conference
Baseball Coaches' Poll |
| Place |
Institution (1st Place Votes) |
Points |
| 1 |
Denison (7) |
79 |
| 2 |
Wittenberg (1) |
64 |
| 3 |
Wabash |
60 |
| 4 |
Wooster (1) |
57 |
| 5 |
John Carroll |
50 |
| 6 |
Kenyon |
36 |
| 7 |
DePauw |
28 |
| 8 |
Ohio Wesleyan |
16 |
| 9 |
Oberlin |
15 |