OXFORD, Ohio -- Behind a season where the Shawnee State baseball program took another step forward by posting its first season at or above 10 games above .500 since 2011, Rob Ehlers' group was selected to finish third in the 2026 River States Conference Preseason Baseball Poll, according to a release put out by River States Conference officials Thursday morning.

In an extremely tight race at the top where the top four teams were separated by just 20 points overall, Shawnee State garnered 65 tallies and two first-place votes from fellow coaches inside the River States Conference.

The Bears sat just 12 points behind Oakland City, the defending River States Conference Regular Season and Tournament Champions, who nabbed 77 points and five first-place votes, as well as only seven behind Indiana-Southeast, who made the NAIA Opening Round via an at-large bid after being nationally ranked for essentially the entire season in 2025. IU-Southeast picked up 72 points and three first-place pulls.

Midway, who finished as the RSC Tournament Runner-Up, collected fourth place with 57 points -- while Indiana-Kokomo (49) edged out Brescia, Ky. (44) for fifth.

Rio Grande (34 counts), West Virginia Tech (26 tallies), Kentucky Christian (16 pulls) and Indiana-Columbus (10 notches) rounded out the seventh through 10th positions in the 2026 River States Conference Preseason Baseball Coaches Poll.

In 2025, Shawnee State hit .319 as a team and won 11 consecutive games en route to enjoying its best overall showing, from a win-loss perspective, in 14 years. The Bears return a plethora of experience with proven hitters such as Diego Mendoza, Zach Gaspar, Jace Parnin, Eli Jones and Mason Reid with Wyatt Haupt, who made a big impact as a freshman, also coming back. An experienced pitching staff, led by junior Carson Wireman and senior Ricardo Medrano, also returns.

Along with the above group of guys, which headline a total of 20 returners coming back to the Shawnee State roster, a crop of at least two dozen newcomers will be joining the returning roster when the 2026 season gets underway in late January.

For more information the Shawnee State baseball program, visit the Bears on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/ssu_baseball/ or on Twitter at https://x.com/ShawneeStateBB.