By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information Coordinator

Click here to check out the Complete OVC Baseball Preseason Release

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Just one more week separates the Tennessee Tech baseball team and the hunt for another Ohio Valley Conference Championship, and the anticipation is beginning to mount.

The Golden Eagles have spent the offseason working hard to return to peak form and try and repeat their record-setting performance from last season, when the team won a program-best 40 games and set the OVC record with 24 conference victories.

But while the team has kept its mind solely on what it does on the ball field, others around the league and the nation have been busy studying what this team might be capable of. The Tech squad, which has already been ranked No. 36 in Collegiate Baseball newspaper's Top 40 rankings, has received the ultimate recognition from its peers around the OVC, being voted as the preseason favorite to take home the conference title.

Also announced Friday afternoon was the Preseason All-OVC Baseball Team, a squad dominated by Tech players. A total of six Golden Eagles made the list, including Zach Stephens, Zach Zarzour, Dylan Bosheers, Daniel Miles, Brandon Thomasson, and Seth Lucio. Thomasson was named as the team's designated hitter, but will spend a majority of the 2014 season roaming right field for the Golden Eagles.

And the honors don't stop there. For the second year in a row, Stephens earned Preseason OVC Player of the Year honors. The senior first baseman has already been named to two preaseason All-America teams this offseason and will now try to become the first Tech player to take home the OVC honor since 1997 when Mark Maberry earned both OVC Player and Pitcher of the Year honors.

Tech opens up the 2014 season next Friday (Feb. 14) with a three-game road series at South Alabama.

Click here to check out the Golden Eagles' 2014 schedule

2014 OVC Baseball Preseason Predicted Order of Finish
(Selected by OVC Head Baseball Coaches and Sports Information Directors)

Predicted Order of Finish

2014 Preseason All-Ohio Valley Conference Baseball Team
(Selected by OVC Head Baseball Coaches and Sports Information Directors)

Preseason OVC Player of the Year: Zach Stephens (1B), Tennessee Tech
Preseason OVC Pitcher of the Year: Travis Stout (RHP), Jacksonville State