Wolfpack's Bailey Preseason Baseball All-American

Coach Elliott Avent's team is ranked No. 16 to start the season by Collegiate Baseball

Liz Condo/The ACC

NC State's Patrick Bailey has been selected as a preseason second-team All-American while the Wolfpack baseball team has been ranked No. 16 by Collegiate Baseball magazine.

This marks the 18th straight year in which coach Elliott Avent's team has either started or finished the season in the national rankings.

Bailey, a junior catcher, was recently named one of the top 50 prospects for the 2020 Major League Baseball draft by MLB Pipeline and is a leading candidate for the Buster Posey Award honoring the top catcher in college baseball.

The native of Greensboro started 60 games behind the plate for the Wolfpack last season, hitting .288 with 68 hits, 17 doubles, 10 home runs and 47 RBI. Defensively, he threw out 33 percent of runners attempting to steal while comminging only five errors in 476 fielding chances.

Bailey is coming off a strong summer in which he spent time playing for the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team. 

State will begin the 2020 season on Valentine's Day, Friday, Feb. 14, against James Madison.