St. Paul, MN - The 2026 MLC baseball team was voted to finish seventh in the UMAC Softball Preseason Poll, officially announced on Thursday.

The Knights earned 8 points. The polls were voted on by all the conference's head coaches. Coaches cannot vote for their own team.

Head Coach Randy Cox enters his 17th season at the helm of MLC baseball and brings back some key players in Parker Winghart, Carlos Walta, and Mark Vogel. Winghart heads into his junior season fresh off 2024 and 2025 First Team All-UMAC selections. As a freshman, Winghart broke the MLC single-season doubles record (19) and ranked second in single-season hits (51). The shortstop was also second in MLC single-season history in runs (30) and tied for the team lead in RBI (23) last season.

Walta returns for his senior season primarily as an outfielder after breaking the MLC single-season record in home runs (5). The 2025 UMAC Honorable Mention player tied with Winghart in RBI (23) and was second on the Knights in hits (39).

Vogel is back behind the plate for MLC after earning UMAC Honorable Mention recognition as a sophomore last season. Vogel had a (.308) batting average in 2025 and tied for the team lead in putouts (166), while finishing with a fielding percentage of (.965).

Aidan Berg and Connor Heckendorf are two important pieces returning for the Knights' pitching rotation. Berg struck out 56 batters as a freshman last season, finishing sixth in the UMAC.

MLC baseball opens its season on Tuesday, February 24, at 9 a.m. in a nonconference doubleheader against Minnesota Morris, which will be played at US. Bank Stadium (Minnesota Vikings stadium) in Minneapolis.

Full UMAC Baseball Preseason Poll Press Release