JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (February 5, 2026) – The Atlantic Sun Conference revealed the preseason baseball rankings for the 2026 season on Thursday, as the head coaches voted North Alabama third of the six teams in the ASUN Gold Division.
Based on the points system, the Lions were picked fifth overall. This marks their highest preseason ranking since the move to the ASUN at the start of the Division I era in 2018-19.
The Lions finished the 2025 season in third for the Gold Division and sixth overall — based on FGCU's record in the Graphite Division. UNA ended last season's campaign with a 24-31 overall record with a 16-14 conference finish.
The 2025 campaign was a season of firsts for the Lions' baseball program.
It brought the first 20-plus win Division I season for UNA — the first with a winning conference record and over 15 conference wins. There were also seven series wins for the year with six coming in conference — both bests for a single season in the Division I era.
This marked the first Division I era postseason berth and the first postseason win since 2017, which came during the Division II era.
Of course, the 24 wins currently stand as the most, but the journey to get there was the important piece.
UNA played 34 straight games away from Florence, Ala. during the construction of Mike D. Lane Field at Bank Independent Stadium. Six of those games included SEC teams, all in the DI Baseball Top 25 at the time of play with three teams in the top 10 and two being No. 1 in the country.
Jonathan Lane, the four-year captain, finished at the fourth all-time in career hits in school history with 212. Redshirt freshman
Petey Craska tied the Division I record for most doubles in a season with 18. Craska finished the season as a top-10 offensive power in the ASUN.
Heading into last season, the ASUN Conference selected North Alabama as 10th in the preseason polls – in 2024, UNA was 11th. North Alabama did not have any players selected to last season's preseason All-ASUN Team.
"Preseason polls are good to remind everyone that the season is approaching," said head coach Jad Prachniak. "We are looking forward to getting on the field and competing."
North Alabama starts this season at Mike D. Lane Field on Friday, Feb. 13 against SIUE at 3 p.m.
2026 ASUN Baseball Preseason Awards
Preseason Player of the Year: Ray Velazquez, Austin Peay and Evan Dempsey, FGCU
Preseason Defensive Player of the Year: Juan De La Cruz, Stetson
Preseason Pitcher of the Year: Jake Gorelick, Stetson
Preseason All-ASUN Team
Name Pos. School
Cody Airington SP Austin Peay
Evan Dempsey SP FGCU
Chris Diaz SP FGCU
Jake Gorelick RP Stetson
Trevor Conley C Austin Peay
Cole Johnson 1B Austin Peay
Kyler Proctor 2B Austin Peay
Ray Velazquez 3B Austin Peay
Landon Akers SS Bellarmine
Zeb Allen OF Central Arkansas
Jonah Shields OF Jacksonville
Evan Dempsey OF FGCU
Foster Apple OF Stetson
Conner Spelman DH Jacksonville
*a tie in voting resulted in a 14-person team.
Gold Division Preseason Coaches Poll
Pl. Team (1st Place Votes) Points
1. Austin Peay (4) 34
2. Lipscomb 28
3. North Alabama (1) 23
4. Central Arkansas (1) 18
5. EKU 15
6. Bellarmine 8
Graphite Division Preseason Coaches Poll
Pl. Team (1st Place Votes) Points
1. Stetson (4) 34
2. FGCU (2) 30
3. Jacksonville 21
4. North Florida 19
5. West Georgia 12
6. Queens 10
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