HICKORY, N.C. - Head coach Adam Skonieczki and the Lenoir-Rhyne baseball team have been ranked No. 3 in the ABCA NCAA Division II Preseason Coaches Poll.

This ranking comes after the Bears won 50 games in 2025 and finished last year ranked fourth in the country, trailing just Tampa, Central Missouri, and Northwest Nazarene. The Bears Bomb Squad set an NCAA Division II record with 137 home runs last season and advanced all the way to the national semi-finals in Cary. Mackenzie Wainwright, Cole Stanford, and Sal Carricato were all named All-Americans while coach Skonieczki was named the Perfect Game National Coach of the Year. 

Lenoir-Rhyne sits just behind Tampa and Central Missouri in this early poll. Rounding out the top-five are UT-Tyler and fellow SAC foe Catawba. North Greenville (10), Young Harris (16) Belmont Abbey (17), Lander (27), North Georgia (29), Valdosta State (RV), Carson-Newman (RV), and Francis Marion (RV) were the Southeast Region teams that appeared in this poll. 

The Bears are scheduled to open their season on Friday at 3:00 p.m. when they host Pitt-Johnstown at Durham Field. A doubleheader on Saturday will follow before the series will close with a solo game on Sunday afternoon. Lenoir-Rhyne will be back in Hickory next weekend when they host Columbus State for a three game series on Friday-Sunday.