BURNSVILLE, Minn. – The Northern Sun (NSIC) has released the 2025 NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll with Concordia-St. Paul selected in the sixth spot among the 14 programs in the league.
 
The Golden Bears secured 98 points in the poll, edging out Winona State (97) and the University of Mary (92) while trailing fifth-place Wayne State (120) by 22 points.
 
Three-time defending league champion Augustana picked up nine of the 14 first-place votes, while the other five went to Minnesota State. Augie finished with 165 points to take the top spot followed by MSU with 161 points.
 
Concordia is coming off of a seventh-place finish in 2024 with a 19-19 league record. The Golden Bears then made noise in the NSIC Tournament, reaching the tournament semifinals as one of the last four squads competing for the championship in May, ultimately finishing with a 29-22 overall record, tying for the fifth-most overall wins with Wayne State (29-23).
 
The last time Concordia was selected as a top-six in the NSIC Preseason Poll was in 2020 at fifth in what would be a COVID-shortened season as CSP finished the year early at 7-6 overall prior to NSIC competition.
 
"We are looking forward to building off of our strong 2024 season in which we finished 4th in the NSIC Tournament," said head coach Neil Lerner. "We return several key starters from our 2024 team which led the NSIC in batting average. In addition, we return our top four starters on the mound. We will have some new faces in our lineup that will replace some key losses, but we are looking forward to competing in the challenging Northern Sun."
 
The baseball non-conference season gets underway Friday, January 31 with teams competing in Tucson, Arizona while Concordia opens play February 14-16 with a four-game series at Emporia State.  
 
NSIC-play will begin in mid-February again this season with neutral site contests as Concordia concludes its spring trip to the Tucson Invitational Games (TIG) with conference doubleheaders against Minot State on March 8-9 at Kino Sports Complex.
 
The 2025 NSIC Baseball Tournament will take the top eight teams in the final NSIC Standings. The eight-team double-elimination NSIC Tournament takes place May 7-10, hosted by Augustana University at Ronken Field and the University of Sioux Falls at the Birdcage in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The tournament will be streamed on the NSIC Network, with tournament passes or single-game access available for purchase.  
 

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NSIC PLAYER TO WATCH
#21 Bennett McCollow (IF, 5-10, 190, Sr., R/R, Bloomington, Minn. / Jefferson HS / North Iowa Area CC)

• 2024 D2 Baseball All-America Second Team (2B)
• 2024 64 Analytics D2 All-America (DH)
• 2024 All-Central Region Second Team (ABCA/Rawlings, D2CCA & NCBWA)
• 2024 NSIC Newcomer of the Year
• 2024 All-NSIC First Team
• 2024 NSIC All-Tournament Team
• NSIC Player of the Week (5/6/2024)
• Slashed .424/.511/.696 (81-191) in 51 games for the Golden Bears
• Led the NSIC in OBP (.511), ranking 40^th in Division II
• Ranked second in the NSIC with a 1.207 OPS
• Ranked 20^th in Division II with a .424 average, second-best in the NSIC
• Ranked second in the NSIC with 1.25 runs per game, 37^th in Division II
• Fifth-ranked slugging percentage (.696) in the Northern Sun
• Also ranked in the top-10 in the league in doubles (3^rd), hits (4^th), total bases (7^th), RBIs (8^th)
• Tallied 81 hits, including 18 doubles, 10 home runs and two triples
• Added 64 runs, 52 RBIs and 25 walks
• Hit for the cycle against Minnesota Duluth and collected a grand slam against Sioux Falls

 
Lerner on McCollow: "Bennett was new to our team in 2024 and made an immediate impact both on the field and as one of our team leaders. Bennett's 2024 offensive season was one of the best-ever in CSP baseball history. Bennett led our team in batting average - and finished second in the NSIC. Additionally, he led both our team and the NSIC in on-base percentage. Bennett was voted the NSIC Newcomer of the Year, first-team All-NSIC and second-team All-Region. In addition, he was chosen as a member of the D2 Baseball All-America Team. Bennett always seems to have quality at-bats and does everything he can to help our team win baseball games."
 

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NSIC PITCHER TO WATCH
#10 Ian Segna (RHP, 6-0, 190, So., R/R, Lakeville, Minn. / Lakeville South HS)

• Carried a 6-1 record in 11 appearances with 10 games started
• Led the starting rotation with a 4.92 ERA to go with a 1.64 WHIP
• Registered a 32-14 strikeout-walk ratio in 56.2 innings
• Had six starts with at least 5.0 innings allowing two earned runs or less
• Won his first four career decisions, including a win in each of his first three career appearances
• Ranked sixth in the NSIC in fewest walks allowed per 9 innings (2.22)
• Ranked eight in the Northern Sun in wins
• Ranked 15^th in the NSIC in ERA
• Pitched first career complete game shutout at Bemidji State, scattering six singles and a walk with five strikeouts in 7.0 innings

 
Lerner on Segna: "As a true freshman, Ian was an immediate mainstay as a starter in our weekend pitching rotation. Ian has a bulldog mentality – he always wants the ball and he gives us a great chance to win every time he takes the mound for us. Ian made several quality starts for us in 2024 en route to leading our team in wins. As Ian continues to develop and mature we look for him to take a big step up in 2025."