2019 Sun Belt Baseball Weekly News and Notes:
Standings | Composite Schedule | Stats | Championship Information | Record Book
AROUND #SUNBELTBSB
• Continuing with the 2019 season, the Sun Belt Conference will conduct its baseball regular season with divisional play. Two divisions will be comprised of six teams each, and divisional champions will be awarded at the end of the year based on the winning percentage against all teams, regardless of division. The 2019 Sun Belt Conference Baseball Championship will be seeded with the division winners as the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, with the No. 1 seed being awarded to the divisional winner with the best conference winning percentage. The number of teams playing in the conference championship will increase from eight to 10. This would cause two additional games to be played. The first round games will include the No. 8 seed vs. No. 9 seed and the No. 7 seed vs. the No. 10 seed, with both contests conducted as single-elimination games on Tuesday of tournament week. The conference tournament is set for May 21-26 at Springs Brooks Stadium on the campus of Coastal Carolina.
• Arkansas State first baseman, Kyle MacDonald, and Georgia State right-hander, Hunter Gaddis, were chosen as the Sun Belt Baseball Preseason Player and Pitcher of the Year. MacDonald hit 15 home runs and drove in 50 runs last season earning him Sun Belt's Newcomer of the Year honors. He started 51 of A-State's 52 games earning All-Sun Belt Second Team honors. Gaddis has established himself as one of the top starting pitchers in the Sun Belt Conference and the nation in his first two seasons as a Panther. A 2018 All-Sun Belt Conference, Sun Belt All-Tournament and two-time Sun Belt Pitcher of the Week, he led the Sun Belt with nine wins in 2018 while ranking second in the league in innings pitched (100.2), third in strikeouts (98) and fourth in ERA (2.95).
• Coastal Carolina (East) and Louisiana (West) were picked as the favorites to win the 2019 Sun Belt baseball division titles. Both teams claimed the titles in 2018 with Coastal claiming the 2018 tournament. CCU received all 12 coaches' votes while Louisiana received 11 of the 12, with Little Rock staking claim to the final first-place vote.
• Coastal Carolina has garnered six top 25 preseason rankings. Those rankings in order of rank are: No. 12 by Collegiate Baseball, No. 21 by D1Baseball, No. 22 by USA Today and the NCBWA, No. 23 by Baseball America and No. 25 by Perfect Game.
• Right-handers Matt Eardensohn of Coastal Carolina and Zach Greene of South Alabama are two of the 75 players named to the 2019 National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Stopper of the Year preseason watch list. Eardensohn was named a third-team preseason All-American by Collegiate Baseball and earned a spot on the 2019 preseason All-Sun Belt team this preseason after receiving a spot on the All-Sun Belt second team last year. Greene ished tied for 10th in the Sun Belt in strikeouts (80) and saves (5) last season. He ranked 13th nationally in strikeouts per nine innings (12.63), and 23rd in strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.15) in 2018. Greene was selected in the 15th round of the 2018 Major League Baseball Draft by the Miami Marlins.
• Arkansas State first baseman, Kyle MacDonald, and UTA catcher, Will Olson, were named to the 2019 Bobby Bragan Collegiate Slugger Award Watch List. The award open to nominations from all Division I baseball programs in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and New Mexico, is based on performance at the plate, academics and personal integrity.
• App State begins its third season under head coach Kermit Smith with a road series at Tennessee. The Mountaineers opened the 2017 season against VMI in Wilmington, N.C., and the 2018 season at UNCG. In Smith’s first two seasons, App State’s other games against SEC competition were an 8-4 loss at No. 5 South Carolina in 2017 and a three-game series that same year at No. 26 Missouri, which won all three games. A matchup with South Carolina scheduled to be played in Charlotte last season was rained out.
• The Trojans return 21 letterwinners from last year's team while only losing nine. Six starting position players will return to the lineup in 2019 to bring their leadership and experience to the diamond. On the mound, the maroon and silver bring back 11 pitchers but lose a starting pitcher and a heavily-used reliever, Justin Garcia. A solid group of 12 newcomers join the squad looking to contribute to the team.
• Since Coastal Carolina head coach Gary Gilmore took over at his alma mater in 1996, Coastal is 19-4 in season openers, while posting a 21-2 record when playing its first home game of the season under Gilmore. CCU's lone home-opening losses under Gilmore were versus Pittsburgh in 2014 and North Carolina in 1998.
• Coastal will enjoy its home field for the first month of the season, as 12 of the Chants first 14 games will come at Springs Brooks Stadium. CCU's lone two road games in the first four weeks of the season are at UNC Wilmington (Feb. 19) and at the College of Charleston (Feb. 27).
• This weekend's series marks the fifth time in the last 10 years that the Eagles have opened the year against an SEC team. Georgia Southern took two of three from Georgia in 2013 and 2014. The Eagles took the middle game of the series with Georgia in 2016 and 2018.
• Georgia State opens the 2019 season with the fifth annual Atlanta Challenge as Richmond, West Virginia and UIC visit Atlanta for one game each at Georgia State, Georgia Tech and Kennesaw State. GSU is 7-5 for the four previous Atlanta Challenge weekends, including two out of three in last year’s event with wins over Bradley and Minnesota and a loss to UConn.
• South Alabama first baseman Wells Davis enters the season with a 19-game on-base streak after closing the 2018 season by reaching safely in 19 straight contests. He recorded 17 multiple-hit games and 15 multi-RBI contests, and hit safely in 35 of 56 games last season.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Friday, February 15
Creighton at Little Rock, 3:00 PM CT
(1) VCU at Coastal Carolina, 3:00 PM CT
(2) Richmond at Georgia State, 3:00 PM CT
South Alabama at Clemson, 3:00 PM CT
Appalachian State at Tennessee, 3:30 PM CT
(3) Utah at Texas State, 6:00 PM CT
Central Michigan at Troy, 6:00 PM CT
Georgia Southern at Auburn, 6:00 PM CT
Texas at Louisiana, 6:30 PM CT
Arkansas State at Stephen F. Austin, 6:30 PM CT
UTA at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 6:30 PM CT
ULM at LSU, 7:00 PM CT
Saturday, February 16
Central Michigan at Troy, 1:00 PM CT
(2) West Virginia at Georgia State, 1:00 PM CT
Appalachian State at Tennessee, 1:00 PM CT
Texas at Louisiana, 2:00 PM CT
Creighton at Little Rock, 2:00 PM CT
(1) Maryland at Coastal Carolina, 2:00 PM CT
Georgia Southern at Auburn, 2:00 PM CT
South Alabama at Clemson, 2:00 PM CT
Arkansas State at Stephen F. Austin, 3:00 PM CT
(3) Nevada at Texas State, 4:00 PM CT
Central Michigan at Troy, 4:00 PM CT
UTA at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 4:00 PM CT
ULM at Air Force, 6:00 PM CT
Sunday, February 17
ULM at Army, 11:00 AM CT
(2) Illinois-Chicago at Georgia State, 12:00 PM CT
Appalachian State at Tennessee, 12:00 PM CT
Georgia Southern at Auburn, 12:00 PM CT
South Alabama at Clemson, 12:00 PM CT
Creighton at Little Rock, 1:00 PM CT
Central Michigan at Troy, 1:00 PM CT
Arkansas State at Stephen F. Austin, 1:00 PM CT
Texas at Louisiana, 1:00 PM CT
(1) Campbell at Coastal Carolina, 2:00 PM CT
UTA at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 2:00 PM CT
(3) Missouri State at Texas State, 3:00 PM CT
Monday, February 18
UTA at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 1:00 PM CT
All Times are Central and Subject to Change
KEY:
1 - Brittain Resorts Invitational (Conway, S.C.)
2 - Atlanta Challenge (Atlanta, Ga.)
3 - Texas State Tournament (San Marcos, Texas)