ANNVILLE, Pa. – The Stevens Institute of Technology baseball team earned a first-place vote and tied for in the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom preseason coaches' poll, unveiled on Monday by the league office, the Ducks' fifth straight year earning top-three preseason selection.
Voted on by the conference's eight head coaches, Stevens earned 42 points to tie with Misericordia, the 2024 conference champion, who earned two first place votes. The remaining five first-place votes went to preseason favorite and reigning conference champion Arcadia, who finished just two points ahead of the Ducks and Cougars. DeSales earned 29 points for fourth, one point ahead of Lebanon Valley.
The entire poll was as follows:
| Rank |
Team |
Points |
1st Place Votes |
| 1 |
Arcadia |
44 |
5 |
| T2 |
Misericordia |
42 |
2 |
| T2 |
STEVENS |
42 |
1 |
| 4 |
DeSales |
29 |
|
| 5 |
Lebanon Valley |
28 |
|
| 6 |
FDU-Florham |
17 |
|
| 7 |
Delaware Valley |
14 |
|
| 8 |
King's |
8 |
|
Stevens went 28-16 with an 18-3 mark in conference play in 2025, winning the regular season title by a whopping four games, garnering Coach of the Year honors for now-15
th year head coach
Kristaps Aldins; it was the team's fifth straight (full) season over .500 and seventh straight (full) season over .500 in conference play.
David Finch took conference Pitcher of the Year honors as a sophomore last season, one of nine Ducks named All-MAC Freedom, with fellow all-conference selections
Erik Sibbach (the 2024 conference Pitcher of the Year), outfielder
Dylan Fishbough, and infielder
Chip Krese returning this season.
Finch notched five saves, four coming in conference play, striking out 28 batters in 19.2 innings during the regular season, while allowing 14 hits (13 of them singles). During a stretch of 10 appearances from early March to early April, Finch went 13 innings without allowing an earned run, striking out 20 while yielding just eight hits.
Sibbach finished the year in the Top 8 in the conference in ERA, opponent batting average, strikeouts, and (fewest) walks, including eight shutout innings against Lebanon Valley and a remarkable 80-pitch complete game effort against Delaware Valley.
After just 29 appearances and 19 starts through two years, Fishbough broke out in 2025, starting 33 of 37 games, hitting.398 with 19 extra-base hits, 26 RBI, and 14 stolen bases. From March 19 through April 29, Fishbough hit .436 (44-for-101) with 16 extra-base hits, 19 RBI's, 23 runs, and 11 steals in 13 attempts. He hit safely in 16 straight games, including a 6-for-6, five-run, six-RBI game against New Jersey City when he broke the school record for hits in a game.
Krese was out nearly a month in the middle of the season, but still hit .359 with 16 extra-base hits (six homers) and 31 RBI. In the MAC Freedom semifinal series against Lebanon Valley, he homered in all three games, hitting .429 (6-for-14) with four runs scored and eight RBI.
Other noteworthy Ducks back include
Jack Reichlin (.283 AVG, 15 extra-base hits, 34 RBI),
Luke Mahala (.283 AVG in 46 at-bats),
Quinton Sterling (.509 SLG, nine steals),
Brady Solomon (3.00 ERA, 15 K, 3 BB, in 9.0 innings), and
William Sotiropoulos (4.50 ERA, 18 K in 16 innings).
#AllRise
