Courtesy: University of Minnesota http://gophersports.com/

The Minnesota baseball team was ranked No. 30 in the Collegiate Baseball Magazine Fabulous 40 NCAA Division I pre-season baseball poll.

Minnesota was also ranked No. 30 in the Ping!Baseball pre-season Top 30. The Golden Gophers were joined by Ohio State (No. 14 in CB & No. 24 in Ping!Baseball) as one of two Big Ten programs in the two polls.

Junior reliever Scott Matyas was also named a pre-season Third-Team American by Collegiate Baseball Magazine. Last year, Matyas collected a school-record 15 saves, had a 2.22 ERA and struck out 45 batters in 28.1 innings of work. He also allowed only seven walks and limited opponents to a .202 batting average.

Minnesota returns 20 players who saw action from a 2009 squad that finished 40-19, finished second in the Big Ten regular-season at 17-6, advanced to the Big Ten Tournament Championship and advanced to the final game of the NCAA Regionals in LSU.

The Golden Gophers will start action when they host the Pro-Alumni Game on Saturday, Feb. 6 at 5:05 p.m. Minnesota will begin the regular-season with a three-game series against Akron on Feb. 19-21 in Fort Myers, Fla.