NEW ORLEANS – Following a vote of the conference’s 14 head coaches, Troy’s Shane Lewis, Southern Miss’ Tanner Hall, Coastal Carolina’s Caden Bodine, Georgia Southern’s JP Tighe and Coastal Carolina’s Gary Gilmore received the Sun Belt Conference’s baseball postseason honors. The conference office also announced the 2023 Baseball All-Sun Belt Teams on Monday. 
 
Troy’s Lewis was named the Sun Belt Baseball Player and Newcomer of the Year, Southern Miss’ Hall was selected as the Pitcher of the Year, Coastal Carolina’s Bodine was tabbed as the Freshman of the Year, Georgia Southern’s Tighe was the inaugural recipient of the Tony Robichaux Leadership Award and Coastal Carolina’s Gilmore was honored as the Ron Maestri Coach of the Year. 
 
Redshirt sophomore outfielder Lewis paced the Sun Belt with 28 home runs, 78 RBI, 154 total bases and a .794 slugging percentage, while ranking among the Top 10 in the conference with 63 runs scored and a .461 on-base percentage. The Vicksburg, Miss., native—who came to Troy via Mississippi State and Chipola College—is also a semifinalist for the 2023 Dick Howser Trophy. 

     
 
Junior right-handed pitcher Hall led the Sun Belt with 11 wins and a 2.45 ERA over a conference-high 88.0 innings pitched. The Zachary, La., product struck out 100—the second-most in the conference—while holding opponents to a conference-low .203 batting average on the season. Hall is also a semifinalist for the 2023 Dick Howser Trophy. 

     
 
Freshman catcher Bodine ranked among the Top 15 in the conference with a .369 batting average, .468 on-base percentage, .614 slugging percentage, 16 doubles and 55 runs scored. Defensively, he picked off three runners and caught 14 stealing—both among the Top 5 in the conference. 
 
Senior catcher and outfielder Tighe appeared in 45-of-55 games for the Eagles this season, hitting .250 with 18 RBI and 23 runs scored. The Dalton, Ga., native is well-respected amongst his peers—serving as a team leader on and off the field. Tighe has used that influence to ensure that both academic and athletic success remain important to the entire Georgia Southern baseball team. He has also taken on a formal leadership role as the program’s student-athlete advisory committee (SAAC) representative on campus. Tighe embodies the on and off field principles that late Louisiana head coach Tony Robichaux preached to his players and community, making him the ideal inaugural recipient of the Tony Robichaux Leadership Award. 

     
 
Gilmore guided Coastal Carolina to a 37-17 record, including a Sun Belt-leading 23-7 mark in conference play to earn the regular-season title for the third time in program history (2017, 2018 & 2023). The Chanticleers won each of their 10 conference series this season and have won 16-straight conference series dating back to the 2022 campaign.
 
Coastal Carolina enters the 2023 Guardian Credit Union Sun Belt Conference Baseball Championship presented by Troy University at No. 13 in the RPI—1-of-3 Sun Belt programs among the Top 35 and 1-of-5 among the Top 70. 

Those top three teams—in both the RPI and the conference standings—combined to claim 14-of-28 All-Sun Belt nods. Regular-season champion Coastal Carolina led all programs with four All-Sun Belt First Team honorees and seven overall selections.  
 
All 10 programs that qualified for the Sun Belt Baseball Championship are currently listed among the Top 100 of the RPI. 

Troy (4), Georgia State (3), Southern Miss (3), App State (2), James Madison (2), Louisiana (2) and Old Dominion (2) each had multiple All-Sun Belt recipients. 11-of-14 Sun Belt programs were represented on the two All-Sun Belt teams. 
 
Player of the Year
Shane Lewis, Troy (RS So., OF – Vicksburg, Miss.)
 
Pitcher of the Year
Tanner Hall, Southern Miss (Jr., P – Zachary, La.) 
 
Newcomer of the Year
Shane Lewis, Troy (RS So., OF – Vicksburg, Miss.)
 
Freshman of the Year
Caden Bodine, Coastal Carolina (Fr., C – Haddon Heights, N.J.)
 
Tony Robichaux Leadership Award
JP Tighe, Georgia Southern (Sr., C/OF – Dalton, Ga.) 
 
Ron Maestri Coach of the Year
Gary Gilmore, Coastal Carolina
 
All-Sun Belt First Team
P Xander Hamilton, App State (Jr., P – Raleigh, N.C.)
P Tanner Hall, Southern Miss (Jr., P – Zachary, La.) 
P Grayson Stewart, Troy (RS So., P – Dothan, Ala.) 
RP Teddy Sharkey, Coastal Carolina (Jr., RP – Wall, N.J.) 
C Caden Bodine, Coastal Carolina (Fr., C – Haddon Heights, N.J.)
1B Hunter Fitz-Gerald, Old Dominion (Jr., 1B – Margate, Fla.) 
2B Jesse Sherrill, Georgia Southern (Sr., 2B – Pensacola, Fla.) 
SS Dustin Dickerson, Southern Miss (Jr., SS – Laurel, Miss.)
3B Caleb Bartolero, Troy (Sr., 3B – Woodstock, Ga.) 
OF CJ Boyd, App State (So., OF – Lewisville, N.C.)
OF Nick Lucky, Coastal Carolina (Super Sr., OF – Denver, Pa.)
OF Shane Lewis, Troy (RS So., OF – Vicksburg, Miss.)
UT Cameron Jones, Georgia State (Jr., UT – Kathleen, Ga.) 
DH Derek Bender, Coastal Carolina (So., DH – Murrells Inlet, S.C.)
 
All-Sun Belt Second Team
P Ryan Watson, Georgia State (Sr., P – Sugar Hill, Ga.) 
P Sam Armstrong, Old Dominion (Jr., P – Wantage, N.J.) 
P Levi Wells, Texas State (Jr. P – La Porte, Texas)
RP Noah Manning, Troy (Jr., RP – Minooka, Ill.) 
C Julian Brock, Louisiana (Jr., C. – Fulshear, Texas)
1B Zack Beach, Coastal Carolina (Sr., 1B – Mechanicsville, Va.)
2B Payton Eeles, Coastal Carolina (Super Sr., 2B – Acworth, Ga.) 
SS Kyle DeBarge, Louisiana (So., SS – Kinder, La.) 
3B Danny Lynch, Southern Miss (Sr., 3B – Jupiter, Fla.) 
OF Graham Brown, Coastal Carolina (Sr., OF – Middletown, Md.) 
OF Fenwick Trimble, James Madison (So., OF – Virginia Beach, Va.) 
OF Will Turner, South Alabama (So., OF – Auburn, Ala.) 
UT Jack Cone, James Madison (Gr., UT – Fairfax Station, Va.)
DH Max Ryerson, Georgia State (Sr., DH – Conway, S.C.)