MILWAUKEE, Wis. (naccsports.org) --- Defending champion Milwaukee School of Engineering has been identified as a strong favorite to capture the 2026 Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) baseball title, according to the annual preseason poll released Tuesday.

The Raiders received 18 of 26 first-place votes for 325 points and sit 18 markers clear of runner-up Aurora University (307 points, 5 first-place votes). Benedictine University (286) and Edgewood University (248) sit solidly in third and fourth, respectively, with each picking up a first-place vote.

Concordia University Chicago (226) is fifth, while Concordia University Wisconsin (194) edged Marian University (189) for sixth and Rockford University (164, 1 first-place vote) is eighth. St. Norbert College (111), Dominican University (102), Illinois Institute of Technology (86), Wisconsin Lutheran College (79), and Lakeland University (49) round out the poll, which is voted on by the league's head coaches and one athletics communications representative from each institution. 

2025 Review
MSOE posted an 18-6 record in NACC play to capture the league title for the second year in a row. The top seed in the NACC Tournament, the Raiders edged out fifth-seeded Marian, 4-3, in their opening game, then defeated sixth-seeded Edgewood, 10-6, and 10-0 (7 innings), on consecutive days to win the NACC Tournament for the second time in four years.

Advancing to the NCAA regional, MSOE rebounded from an opening-round loss to post a pair of wins, but fell to Belhaven (Miss.), 7-4, in the regional final.

Rockford senior outfielder Joseph Stagowski was named a D3baseball.com Second Team All-American, while Stagowski, Rockford senior third baseman Jake Bilotta, and Benedictine senior outfielder George Betevis were all-America third team selections by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA).

Betevis was also named an ABCA/NCAA Division III Gold Glove Award winner and MSOE head coach Adrian Santiago received ABCA Region VIII Coach of the Year honors.

New Coaches
New faces will be directing the charges at both Concordias this season but neither is a complete stranger to their program. Matt Smith was eleveated to the top spot at Concordia Chicago after four seasons as a full-time assistant in the program. As the primary pitching coach, Smith's staff has accumulated over 50 wins out of the bullpen and produced six NACC All-Conference pitchers, two CSC Academic All-District honorees, and one NACC Pitcher of the Week. 

A double degree receipient from CUC, he began his coaching career as a graduate assistant with the Cougars from 2008-2010 before expanding his coaching resume at several high school programs across Illinois.

Mitch Rogers was named the interim head coach at Concordia Wisconsin in late January after former coach Eddy Morgan took a position within the Milwaukee Brewers organization. Rogers is in his second season with the Concordia Wisconsin baseball program. During his first year with the Falcons, two pitchers earned All-Conference honors under his guidance. Prior to arriving at CUW, he spent the summer of 2024 at Kapco Park as the interim head coach of the Lakeshore Chinooks of the Northwoods League.

Rogers began his coaching career as a student assistant at Tennessee Tech University. During the 2024 season, Tennessee Tech led the Ohio Valley Conference in walks allowed per nine innings and earned run average, while ranking second in strikeouts per nine innings. 

Preseason Poll / Preseason All-America
MSOE appeared in the "others receiving votes" section of the D3baseball.com/National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Preseason Top 25, totaling three points.

Aurora junior starting pitcher Conner Hogan was named the the D3baseball.com Preseason All-America Second Team.
 
2026 Schedule
Edgewood was the first NACC program to get its 2026 schedule underway, taking one of three in a weekend series against Millsaps in Jackson, Mississippi. Aurora, Benedictine, Concordia Chicago, Marian and MSOE all get underway this weekend with Benedictine (Millington) and Concordia Chicago (Memphis) playing in the Greater Memphis area beginning Friday, and Aurora and Marian playing in Westfield, Indiana, while MSOE ventures to the Pacific Northwest for doubleheaders against Pacific (Ore.) and Willamette (Ore.).

Six more programs - Dominican, Illinois Tech, Lakeland, Rockford, St. Norbert, and Wisconsin Lutheran get underday the following Saturday (Feb. 28). Dominican plays Wheaton (Ill.) in Danville, Kentucky, while Illinois Tech faces UW-Stevens Point in a doubleheader in Westfield, Indiana, and Lakeland and St. Norbert hit the road for doubleheaders at Cornell College and Blackburn, respectively. Wisconsin Lutheran faces both Elmhurst and UW-Platteville in Rantoul, Illinois, and Rockford plays host to both Carroll (Wis.) and Eureka.

Concordia Wisconsin will be the final NACC program to kick off its season, facing Gustavus Adolphus four times in a three--day span to kick off a week-long trip to Tucson, Arizona.

The NACC schedule kicks off Saturday, March 21, with six doubleheaders - Marian at Rockford, MSOE at Dominican, Lakeland at Aurora, Concordia Wisconsin at Concordia Chicago, St. Norbert at Benedictine, and Edgewood at Illinois Tech. Wisconsin Lutheran drew the opening-round bye will host Edgewood in its NACC-opening doubleheader on Wednesday, March 25.

The regular season concludes Friday, May 1, with six doubleheaders.

2026 Tournament
The top eight teams in the final regular season standings will qualify for the 2026 NACC Baseball Tournament. Play begins with two single-elimination games on Wednesday, May 6 - one at Aurora's Jim Schmid Field in Montgomery, Illinois, and one at the Village of Lisle-Benedictine University Sports Complex baseball field. The remainder of the tournament will be a double-elimination affair running Thursday-Sunday, May 7-10, on the Benedictine campus. The tournament champion will receive the NACC's automatic berth in the 2026 NCAA Division III Baseball Championship.

2026 NACC Baseball Tournament
Wednesday-Sunday, May 6-10
at Benedictine University Baseball Field, Lisle, Ill.
(1 game at Jim Schmid Field, Montgomery, Ill.)
Hosted by Benedictine University
 

Baseball	Points
Milwaukee School of Engineering (18)	325
Aurora University (5)	307
Benedictine University (1)	286
Edgewood University (1)	248
Concordia University Chicago	226
Concordia University Wisconsin	194
Marian University	189
Rockford University (1)	164
St. Norbert College	111
Dominican University	102
Illinois Institute of Technology	86
Wisconsin Lutheran College	79
Lakeland University	49