Evansville, Ind. -- University of Evansville baseball players Trentt Copeland and Eric Stamets have been named to College Sports Madness’ Missouri Valley Baseball Preseason All-Conference Team. Copeland, UE’s second baseman, earned first team honors, while shortstop Stamets was recognized as second team.
 
Copeland, a senior from Guelph, Ontario, was a second team All-Missouri Valley Conference selection and MVC first team Scholar-Athlete last spring, hitting .308 with 34 runs, 17 doubles, and 22 runs batted in. In the field, he owned a .985 fielding percentage and combined with Stamets to turn a Valley-high 58 double plays up the middle.
 
Stamets, a junior from Dublin, Ohio, turned heads in the summer as a Cape Cod League All-Star and projects to be one of the best shortstops in the nation this year. Last season Stamets hit .292 with a team-high 51 runs scored and 27 stolen bases. Stamets was named Freshman All-American and the MVC Freshman of the Year in 2010.
 
Evansville opens the 2012 campaign at Belmont University Friday, Feb. 17 at 4:00 p.m. CST. The first pitch at UE's Braun Stadium will be Friday, March 2 when the Aces host IPFW in the first game of the Dunn Hospitality Classic. 
 
Founded in 2011, College Sports Madness is an independent college sports website providing previews, predictions, insight and analysis.
 
College Sports Madness’ full 2012 MVC Preseason All-Conference team can be viewed here.