Gauchos in middle of the pack in Big West baseball poll

UCSB was picked sixth in the Big West Baseball Preseason Coaches Poll that was released Wednesday.

Andrew Checketts takes over the Gaucho program after spending the last three seasons as an assistant coach at Oregon. He is very familiar with Big West baseball, having started his coaching career at UC Riverside.

Checketts returns last year’s leading pitcher Matt Vedo. The right-hander went 6-6 and posted a team-high 64 strikeouts. Other returning starters include infielders Brandon Trinkwon and Ryan Palermo. Trinkwon is back after suffering facial injuries from being struck by a foul ball. Palermo was a Big West honorable mention choice. He batted .325 in conference last season.

Brett Vertigan is a player the Gauchos will be counting on. He batted leadoff for the National Baseball Congress World Series-champion Santa Barbara Foresters last summer. Vertigan was a redshirt at UCSB last season.

Checketts will be relying a lot of new players. He has 12 freshmen on the roster.

Cal State Fullerton was picked as the Big West favorite. The Titans, winners of nine of the last 13 conference titles and 25 overall, received six of the nine first-place votes and 76 points.

Like UCSB, Fullerton has a new skipper this season. Rick Vanderhook takes over  the helm, replacing Dave Serrano, who took the baseball job at Tennessee. Vanderhook played for the Titans and was an assistant coach. He won a national title as a player and two titles as an assistant to the legendary Augie Garrido.

UC Irvine was picked second in the preseason poll and picked up three first-place votes and 70 points. Crosby Slaught, a former Santa Barbara High star, is one of the top pitchers for the Anteaters.

Long Beach State came in third with 58 points. The 49ers have seven returning starters and two veteran starting pitchers. The 49ers added former Santa Barbara County Player of the Year Robert Vickers from Dos Pueblos and Santa Barbara City College.

Cal Poly is tabbed in the fourth spot. The Mustangs return five starting position players, including former Santa Barbara High star Denver Chavez at second base. Also on the squad is freshman Danny Zandona, last year’s Channel League MVP from Santa Barbara.

UC Riverside secured the fifth spot.

UCSB, Pacific, UC Davis and Cal State Northridge round out the poll.

2012 Big West Coaches’ Poll
1. Cal State Fullerton (6 first-place votes) 76 points
2. UC Irvine (3) 70
3. Long Beach State 58
4. Cal Poly 54
5. UC Riverside 44
6. UCSB 37
7. Pacific 25
8. UC Davis 23
9. Cal State Northridge 18