CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – The Coe College baseball team was picked to win the American Rivers Conference by the league's coaches in the 2026 preseason poll that was announced Tuesday. Coe, coming off a 28-13 record and a runner-up finish in the league in 2025, earned eight total first-place votes and a total of 64 points. Buena Vista, Wartburg and Luther round out the top four teams while Nebraska Wesleyan, Loras, Central, Dubuque and Simpson conclude the preseason poll. Returning all-conference selections Jack Walsh, Ryan Thoreson and Jon Wille bolster an experienced squad for head coach Steve Cook who enters his 30th season in charge of the Kohawks. 
 
The season begins in just over three weeks in Jacksonville, Illinois with the Kohawks opening with neutral site games against St. Scholastica (2/21) and UW-Stout (2/21). The first weekend of action concludes with the team's first road game, facing Illinois College (2/22). Coe heads to Missouri the following weekend for a three-game series with WashU (2/28 & 3/1), a team receiving 30 votes in the d3baseball.com national preseason poll. The pre-Spring Break schedule concludes the following weekend in Decatur, Illinois, taking on Knox (3/7) before wrapping up the action with games against Lawrence and hosts Millikin (3/8). 
 
Coe travels south for Spring Break a few days later, taking on Bethel (3/13), UMass Dartmouth (3/14, DH), Farmingdale State (3/16) and William Patterson (3/17, DH). A quick return trip to Iowa presents the Kohawks with their first A-R-C action of the season, welcoming Wartburg (3/20 & 3/21) for a three-game set at Daniels Park. Another three-game home series awaits the following weekend as Simpson (3/27 & 3/28) travels to Cedar Rapids. The Kohawks hit the road for the first time in the league schedule the next Tuesday, taking on Dubuque (3/31) in a single game before a road trip to Pella for a three-game series against Central (4/3 & 4/4). 
 
The Kohawks and Spartans face off again a week after their initial meeting as UD (4/7, DH) comes to Daniels Park to round out the season series. A top of the table clash awaits Coe in its next series, traveling to Storm Lake for a three-game set with Buena Vista (4/10 & 4/11). Coe returns to Cedar Rapids for its final homestand of the regular season the next week, hosting Luther (4/17 & 4/18, DH) for three before a Bremner Cup matchup against Cornell (4/22) concludes the home slate. The Kohawks return to the road for the final two A-R-C series of the season, facing Nebraska Wesleyan (4/24 & 4/25) and Loras (4/30 & 5/1, DH) to wrap up the year. The top six teams from across the league then meet up for the American Rivers Conference Tournament (5/7-5/9) at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Cedar Rapids, playing for the league's automatic bid to the NCAA DIII Tournament. 
 
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