ARLINGTON, Texas – Grand Canyon was voted the top team in the preseason 2025 Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Baseball Coaches Poll that was released on Wednesday. All nine WAC baseball head coaches cast votes for the preseason predicted order of finish and all-conference honors.

Grand Canyon received eight first-place votes and 64 voting points to finish atop the 2025 conference preseason coaches poll. Abilene Christian was second with one first-place vote and 54 voting points, with California Baptist claiming the third slot with 46 points. Defending conference tournament champion Tarleton State (39 points) and Sacramento State (36 points) were also included in the preseason top five.

California Baptist junior outfielder Nick Dumesnil was unanimously voted the 2025 WAC Preseason Player of the Year. Dumesnil was an ABCA all-region choice and a first-team All-WAC selection in 2024 after batting .362 with a WAC best .702 slugging percentage and 165 total bases in 61 games (59 starts) as a sophomore. Dumesnil hit 19 home runs, ripped 19 doubles, and added 45 RBIs and 61 runs scored to last season’s stats totals. Across 30 conference starts in 2024, Dumesnil batted .380 with 11 home runs, 27 RBIs, a .744 slugging percentage and scored 31 runs.

Abilene Christian sophomore pitcher Brett Lanman was named the 2025 WAC Preseason Pitcher of the Year. Named the WAC Pitcher and Freshman of the Year in 2024, the left-handed Lanman went 7-2 with a 3.48 ERA across 16 appearances (15 starts) in his debut season. Lanman limited opposing batters to a .215 batting average and struck out a conference-high 79 hitters in 72.1 innings pitched to earn second team freshman All-America accolades.

Dumesnil and Lanman were both selected to the 12-player preseason All-WAC team by the conference head coaches. Grand Canyon led the way with five total selections, followed by Abilene Christian and Sacramento State with two choices each. California Baptist, UT Arlington and Utah Valley were also represented.

2025 WAC BASEBALL PRESEASON HONORS (as voted by WAC head coaches)

2025 WAC Baseball Preseason Coaches Poll
 

Rank	Team (1st-Place Votes)	Points
1.	Grand Canyon (8)	64
2.	Abilene Christian (1)	54
3.	California Baptist	46
4.	Tarleton State	39
5.	Sacramento State	36
6.	Utah Valley	34
7.	UT Arlington	28
8.	Seattle U	12
9.	Utah Tech	11

2025 WAC Preseason Player of the Year: Nick Dumesnil, Jr., OF, California Baptist
2025 WAC Preseason Pitcher of the Year: Brett Lanman, So., LHP, Abilene Christian

2025 Preseason All-WAC Team
C – Parker Airhart, Sr., UT Arlington
1B – JP Smith, Jr., Sacramento State
1B – Zach Yorke, Jr., Grand Canyon
2B – Ben Greer, Grad, Abilene Christian
3B – Eli Paton, R-Sr., Grand Canyon
SS – Emilio Barreras, Jr., Grand Canyon
OF – Nick Dumesnil, Jr., California Baptist
OF – Eddy Pelc, Grad, Grand Canyon
OF – Nate Bach, R-Sr., Utah Valley
SP – Brett Lanman, So., LHP, Abilene Christian
SP – Isaac Lyon, Jr., RHP, Grand Canyon
RP – Kade Brown, R-So., RHP, Sacramento State