In the tightest preseason poll in conference history, SCIAC coaches are split between Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges and Pomona-Pitzer as the favorite for the season title, with the University of La Verne also a single vote back in the 2026 SCIAC Baseball Preseason Poll, as voted by the league’s head coaches.
The Stags reached the NCAA Super Regional in 2025 while the Sagehens are just one year removed from the Division III College World Series at the same time as La Verne has managed a three-peat of regular season conference championships. Meanwhile, a pair of past national champions in the last decade, California Lutheran University (2017) and Chapman University (2019), recently have won the SCIAC Tournament (CLU in 2022 and 2023) and a SCIAC regular season title (Chapman in 2022).
CMS and Pomona-Pitzer finished conference play in a three-way tie with Cal Lutheran at 16-8, two games behind La Verne with the title still anyone’s for the taking until the final day of the regular season. The Stags averaged a league-best 9.5 runs per game and defeated the Sagehens in the Sixth Street rivals’ first matchup of the SCIAC Tournament before Pomona-Pitzer avenged the defeat to reach the final series and force a decisive Game 8. Every one of those eight tournament games was decided by two or fewer runs – further proof of the continuation of the Golden Age of SCIAC baseball.
The d3baseball.com Preseason Top 25 tabbed CMS 12
th in the nation entering the season, four spots ahead of La Verne and seven clear of Pomona-Pitzer. With five first-place votes in the SCIAC Preseason Poll, the majority of coaches agree but there is far from a consensus. Central to the Stags’ hopes will be Preseason All-America Second Team selection
Alex Henderson, fellow All-SCIAC First Team picks
Dillon Martin and
Bryce Didrickson and one of just two returning All-Conference pitchers in Second Teamer
Parker McGraw. Martin, a two-time First Team selection in as many years, led the conference with 79 total bases to go along with 34 RBI and a 1.286 OPS but Henderson stole all the headlines to end the year with an 11-home run outburst over seven NCAA games. Didrickson’s plate discipline (21 walks versus 10 strikeouts) and 1.088 OPS were a key link in the CMS lineup while McGraw led all pitchers to throw at least 30 innings with a 2.14 ERA over 13 appearances, including two starts.
SCIAC Athlete of the Year and Preseason All-America First Team choice
Jack Gold broke out as the hottest player in the nation to open last season, earning two D3baseball.com National Team of the Week honors by mid-March. A host of other accomplished Sagehens return alongside Gold including .300+ hitters
Cooper Berry and
Lateef Wakil, ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove winner
Jimmy Legg, 2024 First Team All-SCIAC rookie
Greg Pierantoni and fellow First Teamer
Hannoh Seo who missed last season with injury after recording a 2.48 ERA as a sophomore.
The return of Preseason All-America Third Team choice
Ryan Vosika as a graduate student is a boost as La Verne reloads once again under Coaching Staff of the Year winner
Scott Winterburn. The shortstop tied for the conference lead with 31 runs scored and ranked second with a .462 batting average, while three-time First Team catcher
Nathan Perry also hit .400 with a 1.050 OPS. Cal Lutheran, ranked 30
th in the ABCA Preseason Poll, also welcomes back an All-Conference duo in First Team honoree
Lucas Danielewicz and 2024 Second Teamer
Troy Anderson. The former’s 13 doubles in conference play tied for the league leadas part of a .421 BAA/1.098 OPS campaign.
Winner of the inaugural First Round game of the SCIAC Tournament, the University of Redlands must replace all four All-Conference selections. That task will fall in part on
Rylan Morris, the SCIAC Newcomer of the Year who slashed .326/.379/.543 with 26 runs scored and 23 RBI. Also receiving votes in the d3baseball.com Preseason Top 25, Chapman will lean on the bat of
Matt Cristol who hit .375 with a 1.024 OPS and 17 RBI.
Joe Plaskett smashed onto the All-SCIAC First Team for Whittier College with the third-most total bases in the conference (70) and a massive 1.228 OPS, while backstop
Thomas Munch made the Second Team for Occidental College with a .922 OPS and seven home runs. Two-way standout
Brendan Flaherty also racked the Second Team for Caltech between appearing in the field for 21 games while also throwing 53.2 innings with a 52:22 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
Scrimmages, exhibitions and non-DIII competitions have already gotten underway for a handful of teams with Alumni Games to follow before the first DIII matchups on Feb. 6.
2026 SCIAC Baseball Preseason Poll
1. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, 70 points (5 first-place votes)
1. Pomona-Pitzer, 70 pts (1)
3. La Verne, 69 pts (3)
4. California Lutheran, 55 pts
5. Redlands, 43 pts
6. Chapman, 39 pts
7. Whittier, 29 pts
8. Occidental, 19 pts
9. Caltech, 11 pts
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