The results of the 2011 America East Coaches’ Preseason poll have been released, and the Binghamton University baseball team has been selected to finish third in the conference behind runner-up Maine and the defending AE champion Stony Brook Seawolves, who were unanimously chosen to repeat.

Despite its third-place ranking, BU is coming off a 31-win season that set a new school record and earned the Bearcats their fourth-consecutive regular season title.

BU head coach Tim Sinicki says he pays little attention to the preseason poll since he feels that many times it is too early to have a great grasp on how any team will perform and how things will play out.

“I know that last year we were picked second, and we ended up winning the regular season,” said Sinicki, who voted for Stony Brook to finish first in the poll. “I think Stony Brook does have a solid team coming back, [but] to be quite honest with you, we’re not allowed to vote for our school in the poll … and if we were able to vote for our own team, I would’ve voted us No. 1.”

After sweeping Stony Brook last year in the final three games of the regular season, securing top-seeding, the Bearcats fell short in the America East Championship. BU lost its first game of the tournament, which is double-elimination, to fourth-seeded Albany, but went on to beat Maine the following day to stay alive. In the second inning of the game, however, the Bearcats suffered an enormous loss when 2010 America East Player of the Year Corey Taylor was forced to leave the game after being hit in the face by a pitch. Taylor would not return for the following day’s rematch against Albany, and in his absence the Bearcats stranded 12 base runners and committed five errors before dropping the game 7-4, resulting in the team’s elimination.

This year, Taylor, who led the league last season in home runs, RBI and slugging percentage, returns to play his final season at BU. His .370 batting average, which was good for third-best in the league, powered a Bearcat lineup that stood atop the conference in team batting average and runs scored.

In addition to the return of Taylor to the lineup, BU will return another award-winner to its rotation in senior James Giulietti, who was named last season’s co-Pitcher of the Year. Giulietti led the league in ERA last year, ending with a 2.15 ERA over 88 innings. He picked up eight wins and only two losses while notching 74 strikeouts.

“I think, looking at [Stony Brook’s] ball club, they’re gonna return their top three pitchers in their rotation and they’re gonna return a few guys in the middle of their lineup,” Sinicki said. “We’re gonna return the same thing, so I do think it’ll be a situation [where it comes down to…] can their No. 1 beat our No. 1, can their No. 1 beat out our No. 2.”

Stony Brook received the largest number of first-place votes possible in the poll with five, earning it a total of 25 points, while projected-runner-up Maine received 20 points and the remaining first-place vote. Binghamton received a total of 20 points in the poll, while Albany, Hartford and UMBC rounded out the bottom three.