NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – The University of Dayton baseball team was picked to finish third and received three first place votes in the 2020 Atlantic 10 Preseason Poll, which the conference office released Tuesday.

VCU took the top spot in the poll, which is conducted by the 13 head coaches in the conference. The 2019 regular season champs received 162 points and received eight first place votes.

Fordham slid in next with 149 points and two first place votes after defeating the Flyers in the 2019 Atlantic 10 Championship. The Rams narrowly beat Dayton, who received 144 points to go alongside the three first place votes following the team's first Atlantic 10 Tournament appearance since 2014.

Following the Flyers came Richmond (123 points), Davidson in fifth (112), Saint Louis in sixth (111), and Rhode Island rounded out the top half of the poll with 97 points.
George Washington, Saint Joseph's George Mason, Massachusetts, La Salle, and St. Bonaventure finished the rankings.

The Flyers will take the field for the first time in 2020 on Friday when they take on Bryant at 12 p.m. in Wilmington, N.C. Dayton will follow that with a contest against UNCW at 4 p.m. on the same day.
The 2020 Atlantic 10 Baseball Championship will take place from May 20-23 in Richmond, Va. and will be hosted by VCU.