ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Southwest Minnesota State University baseball team was picked to finish third in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Preseason Poll, as voted on by the 13 head coaches in the league.  The announcement came Friday from the NSIC office in St. Paul.

Also on Friday, SMSU senior right-handed pitcher Adam Schrader was named the NSIC Preseason Pitcher of the Year, while Wayne State senior outfielder Joe Wendte was named the NSIC Preseason Player of the Year.

Minnesota State was chosen as the preseason favorite earning 151 points, including seven first place votes, while Wayne State was picked to finish second receiving 148 points and five first place votes. SMSU earned 120 points, two higher than Winona State and six points higher than St. Cloud State, who also received one first place vote.

Augustana was selected sixth with 106 points, while Upper Iowa earned 92 points to earn the seventh spot.  Concordia was tabbed eighth with 82 points followed by Minnesota Duluth (76), Mary (53),  Bemidji State (51), Minnesota-Crookston (30) and Northern State (29).

Schrader, a senior from Easton, Minn., finished 5-1 last season with a 3.88 earned run average in 11 appearances, including 10 starts.  He was named the team's most valuable player and was chosen second team all-region as he led the Mustangs in innings pitched (60.1), complete games (3) and strikeouts (67).  Schrader also recorded a school record 15 strikeouts in a victory over Winona State last season.  He begins the 2010 season ranking fourth in school history in strikeouts (182), seventh in games played (36) and ninth in innings pitched (188.2). 

SMSU opens the 2010 season with a four-game non-conference series versus Minnesota Duluth on Feb. 4-5 at Mall of America Field at the Metrodome.