IRVING, Texas – Conference USA has announced its 2015 preseason baseball awards, as chosen by the league’s 12 head coaches.
Old Dominion Junior infielder P.J. Higgins (Wallingford, CT.) and sophomore outfielder Nick Walker (Virginia Beach, VA.) have been selected to the Conference USA All-Preseason baseball team as announced today. As a team, the Monarchs have been picked to finish third.
Higgins, who played second base, third base and caught was the only Monarch to play and start in all 60 games last season. He posted a 39-game on base streak, including a 13-game hitting streak. He finished second on team with a .308 batting average and was also second in doubles with 15. Higgins posted 19 multiple-hit games, including a pair of four-hit outings.
Walker, who played in the outfield as well as second base, was the only freshmen to be named first team All-Conference USA in 2014. He led the Monarchs in batting (.309) and stolen bases (16), adding 11 doubles, four home runs and 26 RBI. Walker also drew a team-best 25 walks to give him a .393 on-base percentage and earned Freshman All-American honors by Collegiate Baseball.
The Monarchs open the regular season on Feb. 13 -15 at the Coastal Carolina Invitational against Coastal on Feb. 13, Maryland on Feb. 14 and Canisius on Feb. 15. The Monarchs home opener is Feb. 18 against East Carolina. Last year, ODU compiled a 36-26 record, reaching the C-USA semifinals and advancing to the NCAA Regional.
Rice senior catcher John Clay Reeves has been chosen as the preseason Player of the Year, while Rice junior left-hander Blake Fox was named the preseason Pitcher of the Year. Rice was chosen as the unanimous favorite to win the league’s championship. The Owls have won either the regular season or tournament championship in each of its nine years as a member of C-USA.
Reeves made an immediate impact on Conference USA in his first season at Rice, garnering the league’s Newcomer of the Year award and earning first team All-C-USA honors. An outstanding defensive backstop that head coach Wayne Graham entrusts to call the pitches in games, he started 56 of Rice's 62 outings. Reeves tied for seventh in the conference in both home runs (6) and RBI (41), finished tenth in the league in batting average (.317) and slugging percentage (.439), and tied for tenth in hits (70) and total bases (97). He batted .322 with runners on base and .372 with men in scoring position. Reeves was twice named the C-USA Hitter of the Week (March 17 and April 20) and has tallied two or more hits in a game 17 times.
Fox emerged as the staff ace for Rice, leading C-USA in wins (12), ranking second in ERA (1.46) and sixth in innings pitched (104.2), while earning All-American honors by multiple organizations. He won 12 of his 15 starts last season, including four games which ended in shutouts. In addition to non-conference wins over national powers Stanford and TCU, he posted an 8-0 mark in C-USA regular season games and another victory in the C-USA Championship. Fox pitched into the seventh inning of a game 14 times, with a season long of 8.1. frames. He held opposing hitters to a composite .236 batting average and twice struck out eight in a single game. Fox, who was one of three finalists for the College Baseball Hall of Fame National Pitcher of the Year in 2014, is 18-0 in his collegiate career.
Reeves and Fox were joined by senior RHP Matt Ditman on the preseason All-Conference USA team, giving Rice a league-high three selections. Ditman shared the team-lead with 26 appearances, including 24 in relief and earned five victories. He finished among the Conference USA leaders in saves (9), ERA (1.83), opponents' batting average (.198) and WHIP (0.90). Ditman was electric in averaging 10.1 strikeouts per 9.0 innings, and maintaining a 6.4-to-1 strikeouts-to-walks ratio.
FIU and Old Dominion, picked to second and third, respectively, each placed two players on the preseason All-Conference squad.
The Panthers placed sophomore LHP Chris Mourelle and senior 3B Josh Anderson on the preseason team. Mourelle led all Conference USA freshmen and tied for third among all league pitchers in victories with nine, posting a 9-3 record with a 1.95 ERA (eighth-best in C-USA). He tossed a pair of complete-game shutouts and was the starter in a third blanking of an opponent. Mourelle allowed just 11 walks in 78.1 innings pitched, while striking out 37 batters. Anderson started 56 games at third base for FIU, finishing second on the team in batting (.300) and hits (66). His 18 extra base hits tied for second on the team, as he hit 13 doubles and five home runs, while driving in a squad-best 43 runs. Anderson accumulated 94 total bases and his .802 OPS was second on the team.
Southern Miss was selected to finish fourth, just ahead of UTSA. The Golden Eagles placed senior DH Matt Durst on the preseason team. Durst led the Golden Eagles in hitting last season with a .277 batting average to go along with team highs of six home runs and 40 runs batted in. He has started as the team's designated hitter in 48 of 56 games played, adding nine doubles and 19 walks.
Florida Atlantic, chosen sixth, was the only other school with multiple preseason all-league selections, as sophomore IF Stephen Kerr and junior OF Brendon Sanger were listed. Kerr was named Second Team All-Conference USA and was a member of the All-Freshman team for his outstanding 2014 play for the Owls. He hit an impressive .324 with a team-high 38 runs and 10 stolen bases. Kerr drew 21 walks while striking out just 16 times in 207 at-bats. His 24 extra-base hits led the team, as did his six games with three hits. Sanger, one of five Owls to start every game last season, led FAU with a .332 batting average and led Conference USA in both walks with 35 and on-base percentage at .439. He amassed 20 multiple-hit games and tied for the team lead with a trio of three-RBI outings.
Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee, UAB and WKU each had one preseason team representative. Bulldogs junior IF Taylor Love posted a team-leading .318 batting average and led LA Tech hitters in hits (56), runs (24), at bats (176), doubles (12), total bases (74), slugging percentage (.420), hit by pitch (7) and stolen bases (11). Blue Raiders senior OF Jared Allen earned first team all-league honors and led C-USA in home runs with 10 in 2014. He hit for an average of .257 and posted a .472 slugging percentage with 33 RBI, 11 doubles and eight stolen bases. The Blazers are represented by senior RHP Alex Luna, who totaled a 1.76 ERA (33rd in the NCAA, 4th in C-USA) and went 7-1 in 2014. He started 15 contests for UAB and combined for three shutouts, allowing just 17 earned runs in 87 innings pitched. Luna struck out 58 hitters and allowed just 17 walks. The Hilltoppers placed senior IF Ryan Church on the preseason team after he led WKU with 38 RBI, 21 multiple-hit games, seven home runs and 102 total bases last year. He batted .306 in 56 starts for WKU, ranking second on the team with 70 hits, 18 extra-base hits, 17 two-out RBI and 10 multiple-RBI performances.
C-USA’s 20th baseball season gets underway on February 13. The conference tournament is scheduled for May 20-24 in Hattiesburg, Miss. C-USA’s baseball schools have produced 75 NCAA appearances and 10 College World Series teams over the past 19 seasons.
2015 PRESEASON BASEBALL AWARDS (as selected by C-USA’s head coaches) PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH
1. Rice (12)
2. FIU
3. Old Dominion
4. Southern Miss
5. UTSA
6. Florida Atlantic
7. UAB
8. Middle Tennessee
9. WKU
10. Marshall
11. Charlotte
12. Louisiana Tech
(first place votes in parentheses)
ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
P Blake Fox Jr. Rice
P Alex Luna Sr. UAB
P Chris Mourelle So. FIU
RP Matt Ditman Jr. Rice
C John Clay Reeves Sr. Rice
IF Josh Anderson Sr. FIU
IF Ryan Church Sr. WKU
IF P.J. Higgins Jr. Old Dominion
IF Taylor Love Jr. Louisiana Tech
IF Stephen Kerr So. Florida Atlantic
OF Jared Allen Sr. Middle Tennessee
OF Brendon Sanger Jr. Florida Atlantic
OF Nick Walker So. Old Dominion
DH/UT Matt Durst Sr. Southern Miss
PRESEASON PLAYER OF THE YEAR: John Clay reeves-Rice
PRESEASON PITCHER OF THE YEAR: Blake Fox - Rice