The Aurora University Spartan baseball program has been selected to finish second in the 2026 Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) baseball title, coming in just behind Milwaukee School of Engineering, according to the league's annual preseason poll released today. The NACC preseason poll is voted on by the NACC's head coaches and athletics communications professionals.
AU which went 24-20 overall last year and finished second in the NACC regular-season with a 16-8 mark, picked up five first-place votes for a total of 307 points.
MSOE secured 18 first-place votes and 325 points to sit atop this year's preseason poll. Benedictine University followed AU in third, registering 286 points and one first-place vote, while Edgewood University was fourth with 248 points and the one first-place vote. Concordia University Chicago edged Concordia University Wisconsin for fifth-place with Marian University and Rockford University rounding out the expected tournament field.
St. Norbert College, Dominican University, Illinois Institute of Technology, Wisconsin Lutheran College and Lakeland University round out the poll.
NACC Tournament: The top eight teams in the final standings qualify for the 2026 NACC Baseball Tournament. The tournament is slated to start Wednesday, May 6 with a pair of single-elimination games featuring teams 5-8 in the standings. The two first-round victors advance to the six-team double-elimination portion of the tournament, which begins Thursday, May 7. One first-round game will be played at Aurora's Jim Schmidt Field in Montgomery, Illinois. Benedictine University will host the other first-round game and the entire double-elimination segment on its home diamond in Lisle, Illinois. The tournament champion receives the NACC's automatic berth in the 2026 NCAA Division III Baseball Championship.
The 2026 Aurora University Spartan baseball program will open the season on Saturday, February 21 at Grand Park in Indiana against DePauw University and Heidelberg University.
2026 NACC Baseball Preseason Poll
| Institution |
Points |
| MSOE (18) |
325 |
| Aurora (5) |
307 |
| Benedictine (1) |
286 |
| Edgewood (1) |
248 |
| Concordia Chicago |
226 |
| Concordia Wisconsin |
194 |
| Marian |
189 |
| Rockford (1) |
164 |
| St. Norbert |
111 |
| Dominican |
102 |
| Illinois Tech |
86 |
| Wisconsin Lutheran |
79 |
| Lakeland |
49 |
