HATTIESBURG, MS—ODU junior third baseman P.J. Higgins (Walingford, CT.) and sophomore right hander Sam Sinnen (Virginia Beach, VA.) were named second team All-C-USA while freshman shortstop Zach Rutherford (Chesapeake, VA.) was named to the all-Freshman squad as announced by the league office today.
Higgins started every game for ODU this season leading the team in hitting at .333 with a .446 slugging percentage, 17 doubles and .401 on base percentage. A regular third baseman, but versatility had him also start at catcher and second base. At one time this season he reached base in 25 straight games and had a hitting streak of 16 games. Higgins had a team best 24 multiple hit and eight multiple RBI contests, and was named C-USA Player of the Week on April 13 after blasting two homers at UTSA.
Sophomore Sam Sinnen leads team with a 6-2 record and a team best 2.39 ERA. In 60.1 innings of work, he has walked only 11 batters with a team best 51 strikeouts as opponents are hitting only .238 against him. Sinnen, who has been a part of three Monarch shutouts has three saves and has appeared in 20 games.
Zach Rutherford started 40 of 41 ODU games this year. He currently ranks second on the team with a .329 batting average with 29 runs scored. Rutherford has a .971 fielding percentage with only five errors at shortstop. He is ODU’s top hitter at .355 in 27 C-USA contests and a .467 slugging percentage.
ODU opens C-USA Tournament play Wednesday at 5 p.m. (ET) against second seeded FAU. Listen to the games live on STAR1310 AM with Ted Alexander and Doug Ripley providing the play-by-play action.
After leading his team to the best overall record in the league, Florida Atlantic junior outfielder Brendon Sanger was named Conference USA Player of the Year while Southern Miss senior RHP James McMahon, the league's leader in wins and ERA, earned C-USA Pitcher of the Year honors.
Regular season champion Rice had the most first team All-Conference selections with five and the most total selections with six. Florida Atlantic and UTSA were the only other schools with multiple first team choices, each producing two. Florida Atlantic's three total all-conference choices were second to Rice. Eight of the league's teams had at least one representative on the first unit, while 10 had second-team selections. Southern Miss and UTSA were the only schools with multiple selections to the All-Freshman team, each placing two on a unit that which included at least one player from nine schools. Voting was done by a panel consisting of each head coach, each team's media relations director and a media representative from each city.
2015 CONFERENCE USA BASEBALL AWARDS
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Brendon Sanger, Jr., OF, Florida Atlantic
PITCHER OF THE YEAR
James McMahon, Sr., RHP, Southern Miss
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Ryan Chandler, Fr., OF, Rice
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR
Ronnie Jebavy, Jr., OF, Middle Tennessee
KEITH LECLAIR COACH OF THE YEAR
Jim McGuire, Middle Tennessee
ASSISTANT COACH OF THE YEAR
Michael Federico, Southern Miss
FIRST TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE
IF Jesse Baker, Jr., UTSA
IF CJ Chatham, So., Florida Atlantic
IF Edwin Rios, Jr., FIU
IF Ford Stainback, Sr., Rice
OF Ronnie Jebavy, Jr., Middle Tennessee
OF Anderson Miller, Jr., WKU
OF Brendon Sanger, Jr., Florida Atlantic
C John Bormann, Sr., UTSA
DH/UT John Clay Reeves, Sr., Rice
SP James McMahon, Sr., Southern Miss
SP James Naile, Sr., UAB
SP Austin Orewiler, Jr., Rice
SP Jordan Stephens, Jr., Rice
RP Matt Ditman, Sr., Rice
SECOND TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE
IF P.J. Higgins, Jr., Old Dominion
IF Danny Hudzina, Jr., WKU
IF Tim Lynch, Jr., Southern Miss
IF Ricky Santiago, Sr., Florida Atlantic
OF Roman Collins, Jr., Florida Atlantic
OF Brad Jarreau, So.., Middle Tennessee
OF Brian Portelli, Sr., FIU
OF Kirby Taylor, Sr., Rice
C Esteban Tresgallo, Jr., UAB
DH/UT Adam Lau, Jr., UAB
SP Chase Boster, So., Marshall
SP Nate Hoffmann, Jr., Middle Tennessee
SP Drew Jackson, Sr., Florida Atlantic
SP Phil Maton, Sr., Louisiana Tech
SP Sam Sinnen, So., Old Dominion
RP Danny Dopico, Jr., FIU
ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM
C Ryan Miller, Florida Atlantic
C Brent Diaz, Louisiana Tech
IF Taylor Braley, Southern Miss
IF Zach Rutherford, Old Dominion
OF Ryan Chandler, Rice
OF Trent Bowles, UTSA
OF Brett Netzer, Charlotte
RHP Blake Stansberry, Middle Tennessee
LHP Kirk McCarty, Southern Miss
RHP Chance Kirby, UTSA
LHP Ryan Ruggles, UAB