Despite what the snow (and ice) on the ground would seem to indicate, GW baseball is less than a month away from its season opener.

With the spring season fast approaching, preseason awards are here. Although the Atlantic 10 Conference has not yet announced their early nods, College Sports Madness has put out their lists for conferences across the country.

The Colonials boast two of the three first team A-10 All-Conference pitchers in junior Eddie Muhl and sophomore Robbie Metz. GW also has one position player nominated to the All-Conference Second Team – junior center fielder Joey Bartosic.

Muhl was one of the nation’s top college closers last year and finished the regular season with the most saves in the country. Muhl was also a National Collegiate Baseball Writers of America (NCBWA) Stopper of the Year finalist. He broke GW’s records for most saves in a single-season record in saves (17) in a career (18).

Metz finished his outstanding freshman campaign on the A-10 All-Rookie team. He had the second highest starter ERA at 3.23 and struck out 37 batters in 61.1 innings. Metz switched to shorter starts and bullpen stints later in the season as his total innings built up.

It is unclear if he will be in the bullpen or in the starting rotation at this point, but Metz will likely play a large roll on the mound for the Colonials. He also finished with the team’s second-highest batting average at .306, with a .358 on-base percentage, plus 19 stolen bases.

Bartosic, the team’s typical leadoff hitter, batted a team-high .327 with a .380 OBP. He also led the team in stolen bases (21), runs scored (39), hits (70) and had the fewest strikeouts by any regular starter (16). He also set a program-record with a 24-game hit streak.

GW starts its season Feb. 19 at the University of North Florida.