Southern Conference Baseball
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Southern Conference Baseball 702 North Pine Street, Spartanburg, SC 29303 • 864-591-5100 • Fax: 864-591-3448 2018 Philip Marcello, Media Relations Assistant (Baseball contact) facebook.com/SouthernConference • twitter.com/SoConSports • instagram.com/SouthernConference #SoConBB Southern Conference baseball standings – through May 20 Notes Conference Overall The Southern Conference Baseball Champi- onship presented by Holston Gases will be Team Record Pct Home Away Streak Record Pct. Home Away Neutral Streak played Tuesday through Sunday at Fluor Field in Greenville, South Carolina. The winner of UNCG 18-3 .857 10-2 8-1 W8 37-13 .740 23-8 14-5 0-0 L1 the tournament will earn the SoCon’s auto- Samford 16-8 .667 8-4 8-4 L1 32-24 .571 19-13 13-9 0-2 L1 matic bid to an NCAA Regional. Wofford 15-9 .625 9-3 6-6 W1 35-21 .625 25-8 10-13 0-0 W1 The SoCon Baseball Championship returns to Greenville for the third straight year and VMI 12-12 .500 8-4 4-8 W1 26-25 .510 16-9 10-16 0-0 W1 the fi fth time overall. The tournament was fi rst played at Fluor Field in 2009 and re- Mercer 11-13 .458 6-6 5-7 L2 35-20 .636 23-10 12-10 0-0 L2 turned in 2012 and 2013. ETSU 11-13 .458 4-8 7-5 L1 27-23 .540 12-10 14-12 1-1 L1 Defending champion UNCG enters as the No. Furman 9-12 .429 2-7 7-5 W2 24-26 .480 14-14 10-12 0-0 W2 1 seed, going 37-13 overall and 18-3 in SoCon play. UNCG coach Link Jarrett was named The Citadel 8-16 .333 3-9 5-7 W2 19-33 .365 12-22 7-11 0-0 W2 SoCon Coach of the Year after guiding UNCG to 35 or more wins in three straight seasons. Western Carolina 5-19 .208 2-10 3-9 L2 7-45 .135 4-24 3-21 0-0 L5 The the 2018 squad win every league series, sweeping four SoCon opponents in the pro- Upcoming Schedule (all times eastern) SDN - Socon Digital Network cess. There have been different winners in each May 22 (Tuesday) May 25 (Friday) of the last six seasons, including No. 3 seed SoCon Championship presented by Holston Gases SoCon Championship presented by Holston Gases UNCG in 2017. (Fluor Field; Greenville, S.C.) (Fluor Field; Greenville, S.C.) Game 1: #8 The Citadel vs. #9 Western Carolina 10 a.m. Samford (32-24, 16-8) claimed the second Game 10: Winner Game 7 vs. Loser Game 8 3:30 p.m. seed with a win over VMI on Friday night and Game 11: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 9 7 p.m. will face No. 7 seed Furman (24-26, 9-12) on May 23 (Wednesday) Wednesday at 4 p.m. SoCon Championship presented by Holston Gases May 26 (Saturday) (Fluor Field; Greenville, S.C.) No. 3 seed Wofford (35-21, 15-9) finished SoCon Championship presented by Holston Gases the 2018 regular season in exciting fashion, Game 2: #4 VMI vs. #5 Mercer 9 a.m. Fluor Field; Greenville, S.C.) walking-off ETSU 9-8 after trailing the Bucs Game 3: #1 UNCG vs. Winner Game 1 12:30 p.m. Game 12: Winner Game 8 vs. Winner Game 9 12 p.m. 8-0 entering the bottom half of the sixth in- Game 4: #2 Samford vs. #7 Furman 4 p.m. Game 13: Winner Game 10 vs. Winner Game 11 3:30 p.m. ning on Saturday. The Terriers will face ETSU Game 5: #3 Wofford vs. #6 ETSU 7:30 p.m. (27-23, 11-13), the No. 6 seed, on Wednesday Game 14: Winner Game 13 vs. Loser Game 12 7 p.m. at 7:30 p.m. May 24 (Thursday) May 27 (Sunday) No. 4 seed VMI (26-25, 12-12) will take on SoCon Championship presented by Holston Gases No. 5 seed Mercer (35-20, 11-13) at 9 a.m. SoCon Championship presented by Holston Gases Wednesday. (Fluor Field; Greenville, S.C.) (Fluor Field; Greenville, S.C.) Game 6: Loser Game 2 vs. Loser Game 3 9 a.m. Game 15: Winner Game 12 vs. Winner Game 14 12 p.m. The SoCon coaches and media named their Game 7: Loser Game 4 vs. Loser Game 5 12:30 p.m. ^Game 16: Winner Game 15 vs. Loser Game 15 all-conference teams and individual award Game 8: Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 3 4 p.m. winners Monday (see below and page 3). Game 9: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5 7:30 p.m. ^ 40 minutes after Game 15 All games of the 2018 SoCon Baseball Cham- pionship will be broadcast live on the SoCon Digital Network. Player of the Year Pitcher of the Year Freshman of the Year Andrew Moritz, Jr., OF Matt Frisbee, Jr., RHP RJ Yeager, IF Samuel Strickland, LHP UNCG UNCG Mercer Samford .421, 52 R, 55 RBI, 5 HR .290, 107 K, 83.2 IP, 23 BB .335, 50 R, 6 HR, 41 RBI .205, 72 K, 70.1 IP, 15 BB UNCG’s Moritz paced the league in Frisbee ranks in the top 10 in the Yeager batted .335 with six home Samford’s Strickland became the batting average this season, hitting SoCon in every major pitching cat- runs and 41 runs batted in, starting third Bulldog to be named SoCon .421 for the Spartans, ranking sec- egory including, tying with Mer- all 55 games for Mercer this season. freshman of the year by the media ond in the country behind Niagara’s cer’s Robert Broom for a league- The Lynn Haven, Florida, native and the first since Austin Edens took Greg Cullen while matching the high 10 wins. The right-hander was ranked third on the team in batting home the award in 2015. The left- Spartans’ Christian Wolfe (2013) for a perfect 10-0 for the season, with average, runs scored (50) and slug- hander went 7-2 with an ERA of 2.05 highest single-season batting aver- six wins coming against confer- ging percentage (.483). The rookie and a team-best 72 strikeouts in his age by a UNCG player in the SoCon. ence opponents, throwing 83 2/3 racked up 68 hits and 98 total bases, rookie campaign. The Birmingham, The junior led the conference in on- innings with an earned run aver- smacking 12 doubles while draw- Alabama, native held opposing hit- base percentage (.489) and triples age of 2.90 for the season. Frisbee ing 25 walks. Yeager has an on-base ters to a SoCon-best .173 batting av- (10), while tying with Wofford’s struck out a team-high 107 batters, percentage of .428 and was hit by erage, ranking second in the league Mack Nathanson for runs batted in walked just 23 batters and held op- 11 pitches in 2018. with five wins in conference. with 55.. posing hitters to just a .232 aver- age. SoCon Baseball SOCON BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY HOLSTON GASES Fluor Field / Greenville, S.C. / May 22-27, 2018 #5 Mercer Game 2 Wednesday, May 23 9 a.m. #4 VMI #9 Western Carolina Game 8 Thursday, May 24 Game 1 4 p.m. Tuesday, May 22 10 a.m. #8 The Citadel Game 3 Wednesday, May 23 12:30 p.m. #1 UNCG Game 12 Saturday, May 26 12 p.m. #7 Furman Game 4 Wednesday, May 23 4 p.m. #2 Samford Game 9 Thursday, May 24 Game 15 7:30 p.m. #6 ETSU Championship game Sunday, May 27 12 p.m. Game 5 Wednesday, May 23 7:30 p.m. #3 Wofford Loser Game 12 Loser Game 9 Game 16 (if necessary) Sunday, May 27 Game 11 Loser Game 2 40 minutes after Game 14 Friday, May 25 Game 15 7 p.m. Saturday, May 26 Game 6 7 p.m. Thursday, May 24 9 a.m. Loser Game 3 Game 13 Saturday, May 26 3:30 p.m. Loser Game 4 Game 7 Thursday, May 24 12:30 p.m. Game 10 Loser Game 5 Friday, May 25 3:30 p.m. SOCON DIGITAL Loser Game 8 Game times subject to change. All games available on the SoCon Digital Network NETWORK Tournament winner earns the Southern Conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Regionals. May 21, 2018 Coaches’ All-SoCon SCSMA All-SoCon Player of the Year – Andrew Moritz, Jr., OF, UNCG Player of the Year – Andrew Moritz, Jr., OF, UNCG Pitcher of the Year – Matt Frisbee, Jr., RHP, UNCG Pitcher of the Year – Matt Frisbee, Jr., RHP, UNCG Freshman of the Year – RJ Yeager, IF, Mercer Freshman of the Year – RJ Yeager, IF, Mercer Coach of the Year – Link Jarrett, UNCG Coach of the Year – Link Jarrett, UNCG First team First team SP Matt Frisbee, UNCG SP Matt Frisbee, UNCG SP Samuel Strickland, Samford SP Samuel Strickland, Samford RP Robert Broom, Mercer RP Robert Broom, Mercer C Peyton Maddox, VMI C Peyton Maddox, VMI 1B Christian Bailey, ETSU 1B Christian Bailey, ETSU 2B Austin Embler, UNCG 2B Austin Embler, UNCG SS Chris Cook, ETSU SS Chris Cook, ETSU 3B Caleb Webster, UNCG 3B Caleb Webster, UNCG OF Ben Anderson, Furman OF Trey Truitt, Mercer OF Andrew Moritz, UNCG OF Andrew Moritz, UNCG OF Matt Pita, VMI OF Matt Pita, VMI DH Caleb Longley, ETSU DH Caleb Longley, ETSU Second team Second team (13 members due to a tie in voting) SP Josh Winder, VMI SP Josh Winder, VMI SP Adam Scott, Wofford SP Adam Scott, Wofford RP Andrew Wantz, UNCG RP Andrew Wantz, UNCG C Spencer Holcomb, Western Carolina C Spencer Holcomb, Western Carolina 1B Jake Huggins, VMI 1B Jake Huggins, VMI Andrew Moritz - UNCG 2B Cullen Smith, ETSU 2B Cullen Smith, ETSU SS RJ Yeager, Mercer 2B Brandon Michie, Mercer 3B Nathan Eaton, VMI SS RJ Yeager, Mercer OF Trey Truitt, Mercer 3B Jackson Ware, Mercer OF Cesar Trejo, UNCG OF Ben Anderson, Furman OF McClain Bradley, Wofford OF Cesar Trejo, UNCG DH Brooks Carlson, Samford OF Will Malbon, VMI DH Brooks Carlson, Samford All-freshman team David Beam, ETSU Ben Jackson, ETSU Ben Anderson, Furman Le Bassett, Mercer RJ Yeager, Mercer Brooks Carlson, Samford Samuel Strickland, Samford Justice Bigbie, Western Carolina Will Prater, Western Carolina Chase Walter, Western Carolina Colin Davis, Wofford Lawson Hill, Wofford Matt Frisbee - UNCG Samuel Strickland - Samford RJ Yeager - Mercer Link Jarrett - UNCG SoCon Baseball Preseason teams/polls SoCon Player/Pitcher of the Month - April Preseason Player of the Year JT Thomas, Sr., C, Mercer Preseason Pitcher of the Year Josh Winder, Jr., RHP, VMI First team SP Cody Shelton, Samford SP Josh Winder, VMI RP Robert Broom, Mercer C JT Thomas, Mercer 1B Brandon Elmy, Furman 2B Austin Embler, UNCG SS Chris Cook, ETSU 3B Caleb Webster, UNCG OF Andrew Moritz, UNCG OF Dillon Stewart, UNCG OF Matt Pita, VMI OF McClain Bradley, Wofford DH Devin Ruiz, UNCG Second Team SP Ryan Simpler, ETSU SP Matt Frisbee, UNCG RP Wyatt Burns, Samford C Peyton Maddox, VMI 1B Collin Fleischer, VMI 2B Reed Massey, Wofford SS Tripp Shelton, UNCG Collin Fleischer, Sr., IF/OF Adam Scott, Sr., LHP 3B Jonathan Sabo, The Citadel OF Aaron Maher, ETSU VMI Wofford OF Landon Kay, Furman .373 avg., 25 H, 21 R, 8 HR, 21 RBIs 3-1, 31.0 IP, 44 K, 3 BB, .087 ERA OF Troy Dixon, Samford DH Ayrton Schafer, Samford Coaches Poll Place Team (1st-place votes) Points SoCon head coaches’ career records T-1.