Conference USA has announced its 2018 preseason baseball awards, as chosen by the league’s 12 head coaches. Southern Miss sophomore outfielder/pitcher
Matt Wallner has been chosen as the preseason Player of the Year, while Golden Eagles junior right-hander
Nick Sandlin was named the preseason Pitcher of the Year. Southern Miss was chosen as the favorite to win the league’s championship. The Golden Eagles won the C-USA regular season title last season and the tournament championship in 2016.
2018 Preseason Baseball Awards
Wallner registered a .336 batting average during his initial season with the Golden Eagles in 2017, while putting together Southern Miss freshman records for home runs (19) and runs batted in (63). His home run total was the most by any freshman in the country while his RBI total ranked second. Wallner also added 14 doubles, two triples and four stolen bases. His offensive numbers included a .463 on base percentage along with a .655 slugging percentage for a Golden Eagle squad that won a school-record 50 games in 2017 that included a C-USA regular season championship and the school hosting just its second-ever NCAA Regional.
Wallner garnered the Freshman National Hitter of the Year accolade by the National Collegiate Baseball Association (NCBWA) and National Freshman of the Year award by
Baseball America. In addition, he was a consensus Freshman All-American, the Conference USA Freshman of the Year and was listed first or second team on each of the various All-American teams.
Sandlin posted a 10-2 record with eight saves and a 2.38 earned run average for the Golden Eagles last season. Sandlin fanned 80 and walked just 29 in 56 2/3 innings of work, as he appeared in 29 games. He and former teammate Kirk McCarty shared the top spot in C-USA for wins in 2017 and his 20 career saves places him sixth and 10 behind the all-time record holder at the school. Additionally, Sandlin was named to the C-USA All-Academic Team for his 4.0 GPA while majoring in construction engineering technology, garnered a third-team CoSIDA Academic All-American nod and collected three All-America accolades last summer, including one first team honor.
Joining Wallner and Sandlin on the preseason All-Conference team is Southern Miss senior OF
Mason Irby, giving the Golden Eagles three spots, tied with Rice and Florida Atlantic for the most selections. Irby was a second team All-C-USA selection last season and batted .338 while placing second on the squad in hits (89), doubles (20) and runs scored (62), while driving in 40 runs.
Defending tournament champion Rice, owners of 23 consecutive NCAA Regional appearances, was picked second in the preseason poll. The Owls preseason honorees included sophomore RHP
Matt Canterino, junior C
Dominic DiCaprio and junior IF
Ford Proctor.
Canterino led Conference USA, and ranked 27th in the NCAA, with 111 strikeouts. He also led the league, and ranked 31st in the nation, for fewest hits allowed per 9.0 innings (6.28), while his average of 10.4 strikeouts per 9.0 innings was the 12th-highest mark in the nation for pitchers who also threw at least 96.0 innings. Canterino led Rice in innings pitched, starts (17), and opponents' batting average (.194). DiCaprio was the Owls’ starting catcher 58 times, with five additional starts at designated hitter. He topped the team in batting average (.366) and on-base percentage (.438), and was second in hits (87) and RBI (49), while placing third in walks (27) and slugging percentage (.508). DiCaprio reached base at a .531 pace when leading off an inning. Proctor played every inning of last season at shortstop, batting .311 and leading the team with 58 runs scored. He also drew a team-high 39 walks and was second on the team with 19 doubles.
Florida Atlantic was picked to repeat its third place finish of last season, with senior LHP
Jake Miednik, junior IF
Tyler Frank and senior OF
David Miranda representing the Owls on the preseason team. Miednik was a mainstay in the Owls' rotation in his first season in Boca Raton. In 15 starts, he led the team with seven wins and 75 strikeouts (tied for fourth and tied for 12th, respectively, in C-USA). Miednik’s overall record was 7-4 with a 4.88 ERA, in 86 2/3 innings pitched (eighth in C-USA) and 24 of his 75 K's were looking, tied for sixth in the league. Frank, the Owls' shortstop last season, led the squad in a multitude of statistical categories, including batting average at .336. He also paced the squad in runs, hits, doubles and on-base percentage among other categories, while finishing second on the team with 11 home runs, to Miranda's 12. Frank also played last summer with the Team USA Collegiate National Team, becoming the first Owl to ever make their final roster. Along with being the FAU leader in home runs, Miranda had a team-best 51 RBI and was third in average, hitting .319. Miranda achieved the longest hitting streak of the year at 15 games.
Old Dominion was selected fourth, just ahead of FIU. The Monarchs placed a pair of players that enjoyed outstanding 2017 freshman seasons on the 2018 preseason team in sophomore 1B
Vinny Pasquantino and OF
Kyle Battle. Pasquantino hit .321 last season with five home runs, 17 doubles and 38 RBI during his inaugural season with the Monarchs. He primarily hit cleanup, finishing third on the club with a .473 slugging percentage and also excelled in the field, committing just five errors for a .991 fielding percentage. Battle finished second on the team in batting average with a .341 mark, while knocking in 36 runs. Battle, who moved into the leadoff position midway through the season, also scored 39 times, hit eight doubles, two home runs and stole six bases.
FIU is represented on the preseason squad by sophomore RHP
Nick MacDonald. A Freshman All-American, MacDonald was 7-3 with a 4.29 ERA in his first season as a Panther while pitching out of the Friday and Sunday slots. The right-hander pitched 71.1 innings and struck out 68 batters, while walking 30. In nine of his 13 starts, MacDonald allowed three runs or less.
Charlotte, Louisiana Tech and UTSA were chosen to finish sixth, seventh and eighth, respectively, with the Roadrunners placing junior IF
Bryan Arias on the preseason All-Conference team. Arias paced the team in hitting for much of last season before finishing third on the team with a .323 average. He registered 74 hits and amassed 32 extra-base hits, including 11 home runs. Arias scored 55 runs, walked 24 times and stole seven bases, posting a .563 slugging percentage and .395 on base clip.
Middle Tennessee junior DH
Aaron Aucker rounds out the preseason selections. Aucker was the most powerful Blue Raider offensive player in 2017, hitting a team-high 10 home runs, while also leading MT with a .641 slugging percentage (3rd in C-USA) and .448 on-base percentage (9th in C-USA). The first team All-C-USA DH finished last year second on the squad with a .359 batting average (8th in C-USA), and 41 RBI.
The 2018 Conference USA baseball season begins Friday, February 16. The league ranked No. 6 among all conferences in 2017 and had six teams ranked in the top 60 of the final RPI report.
2018 PRESEASON BASEBALL AWARDS
(as selected by C-USA’s head coaches)
PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH
1. Southern Miss (11)
2. Rice (1)
3. Florida Atlantic
4. Old Dominion
5. FIU
6. Charlotte
7. Louisiana Tech
8. UTSA
9. Middle Tennessee
10. Marshall
11. UAB
12. WKU
(first place votes in parentheses)
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Matt Wallner, Southern Miss (Sophomore, OF/P)
PITCHER OF THE YEAR
Nick Sandlin, Southern Miss (Junior, RHP)
ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
P Matt Canterino So. Rice
P Nick MacDonald So. FIU
P Jake Miednik Sr. Florida Atlantic
RP Nick Sandlin Jr. Southern Miss
C Dominic DiCaprio Jr. Rice
IF Bryan Arias Jr. UTSA
IF Tyler Frank Jr. Florida Atlantic
IF Ford Proctor Jr. Rice
IF Vinny Pasquantino So. Old Dominion
OF Kyle Battle So. Old Dominion
OF Mason Irby Sr. Southern Miss
OF David Miranda Sr. Florida Atlantic
OF Matt Wallner So. Southern Miss
DH/UT Aaron Aucker Sr. Middle Tennessee