Posted by Press Democrat Staff Writer Michael Coit:

Sonoma State University’s baseball team is expected to have another strong season with the California Collegiate Athletic Association’s coaches picking the Seawolves to finish second in the league.

UC San Diego finished first in voting by the conference’s 11 coaches, receiving six first place votes to four for Sonoma State and one for Cal Poly Pomona.

Chico State was third and Cal State Los Angeles fourth followed by Cal State Dominguez Hills, Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State Stanislaus, Cal State Monterey Bay, San Francisco State, and Cal State East Bay.

The Seawolves open the 2010 season on Feb. 2 against San Francisco State at Seawolf Diamond in Rohnert Park.

The CCAA championship tournament is scheduled May 6-8 at the University of Pacific, in Stockton.

UC San Diego and Sonoma State came in first and second, respectively, in conference play a year ago. The Seawolves reached the NCAA West Regional finals and finished 35-16 overall, 22-10 in the CCAA.

But the Seawolves later had to forfeit 26 wins for using an ineligible player during the 2009 season.

John Goelz enters his 25th season at the helm of the Seawolves. In that time, Sonoma State has won nine conference titles and gone to the NCAA regionals 10 times, including a third place finish in the 2008 Division II College World Series.