The Misericordia University baseball team is ranked fifth in Collegiate Baseball's 2019 Pre-Season Poll, which was released Wednesday afternoon.

The Cougars finished 37-15 last season on their road to the College World Series. The team defeated Randolph-Macon College, 4-2, in their opening contest, but dropped the following two games against the University of Texas Tyler, 7-3, and Randolph-Macon, 14-6.

Misericordia also finished 17-4 in the MAC Freedom and captured its eighth consecutive conference title. The squad defeated DeSales University, 4-1 and 5-3, twice in one day to claim the MAC Freedom Championship.

Last season, the Cougars ranked sixth in the nation in runs scored (405) and 25^th in on-base percentage (.417).

Steve Weisensee, Parker Abate and Tyler Holzapfel are all key returners for the Cougars' offense. Weisensee posted the squad's top batting average (.348) while driving in 46 runs and earning All-MAC Freedom second-team honors.

Abate and Holzapfel also garnered All-MAC Freedom second-team honors for the Cougars. Abate hit .344 and scored 54 runs while Holzapfel batted .338 with a team-best 50 RBI.

Misericordia's pitching staff collected a 3.78 ERA with a conference-best 330 strikeouts in 2018. Drake Koch led the staff with a 3.28 ERA and 71 strikeouts through 71.1 innings of work.

Ian McCole is also expected to play a key role in the club's starting staff this season. McCole logged 62.0 innings as a first-year student-athlete while collecting a 3.34 ERA and a team-leading eight wins.

Kyle Melahn held down the Cougars' bullpen with a team-high 27 appearances in relief last season. As a junior, he collected eight saves and finished with a 3.44 ERA.

The Cougars open their 2019 campaign with a double-header at Shenandoah University on Saturday, Feb. 16.