Baseball | 1/16/2026 12:05:00 PM

ORLANDO –  The Barry Buccaneers, who finished seventh in the league, were picked tied for sixth in the 2026 Sunshine State Conference pre-season baseball poll by the conference coaches, on Friday.

The Bucs are brand new this season, as all nine starters and five of eight pitchers with at least 20 innings exited the program at the end of last year. Mason Blocker, who led the team with six wins as a freshman, Sean Driscoll, who was second on the team with 50 strikeouts in 53.1 innings and Jack Ensell, who went 2-2 out of the pen are the three returning pitchers. Aramis Ramirez, Jr., who played around the infield, is the only returning player with at least 50 at-bats.

The coaches picked defending conference and national champion Tampa as the preseason number one for the 19^th time in the last 20 polls. With 99 points and nine first-place votes in the ranking, the Spartans are expected to raise the league trophy for the 25^th time in program history.

Florida Southern received the remaining first-place votes and finished second with 92 points. Rollins (77), Lynn (75) and Nova Southeastern (65) were third through fifth. Florida Tech (44) was tied with the Bucs for sixth place, while Embry-Riddle (41), Saint Leo (27), Palm Beach Atlantic (21) and Eckerd (20) round out the poll.

Tampa won the 2025 conference title and earned an AQ to the NCAA tournament following a 23-7 (.900) record in league play. The Spartans won nine of their 10 conference series, including eight three-game sweeps. Along with Tampa, Florida Southern and Lynn received playoff berths last season. The Spartans hosted Lynn in South Regional 1, while the Moccasins hosted South Regional 2.

Tampa advanced to the Super Regional, where they swept the West Florida Argonauts. At the World Series, they fell into the loser's bracket, but battled their way into the final series against Central Missouri. They lost the first game to the Mules 9-8, but rallied to win twice on the final day for their 10th national title.

Following Tampa's 2025 post-season performance, SSC teams have reached the NCAA Division II World Series 48 times. While seven league programs have reached the final tournament, only four programs have won a national championship. Tampa now owns the NCAA record with 10 championships, while Florida Southern has nine. Lynn won it all in 2009, and NSU went all the way in 2016.

All 11 teams will open up the 2026 season in non-conference action on Friday, Jan. 30, including the Bucs who take on Cal State-East Bay at Feinbloom Field. League play begins on Friday, Feb. 20, with 10 of 11 teams taking the field. The Bucs open up conference play against Nova Southeastern at home. Fans can find the composite schedule for 2026 here.

Below are the full results of the 2025 SSC preseason coaches' poll. Coaches cannot vote for their teams (points: 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1, first-place votes in parentheses).