NEW ORLEANS – With four teams coming off NCAA Baseball Regional appearances in 2023, Sun Belt programs and student-athletes garnered national accolades from a number of publications in addition to the conference’s five nationally-noted programs in preseason polls and eight preseason All-Americans.  
 
Southern Miss and Troy, who fell just outside D1Baseball’s Preseason Top 25, were each named among the publication’s 15 More Teams to Watch in 2023. The Golden Eagles were also recognized as Perfect Game’s Outside the Top 25 Omaha Contender, while the Trojans were listed as the publication’s Super Regional Cinderella. 
 
Both programs boast a Perfect Game Impact Senior in designated hitter Slade Wilks for Southern Miss and outfielder Shane Lewis for Troy. 
 
Three Sun Belt programs—Coastal Carolina (No. 15), Troy (No. 17) and Louisiana (No. 23)—had their transfer classes ranked among the Top 25 by D1Baseball. Those classes included D1Baseball noted impact transfers junior third baseman Sam Antonacci and junior starting pitcher Alexander Meckley for Coastal Carolina and senior starting pitcher Clete Hartzog and junior relief pitcher Dylan King for Troy. 
 
Coastal Carolina junior designated hitter Derek Bender, Louisiana junior shortstop Kyle DeBarge—the Sun Belt Preseason Player of the Year—and South Alabama junior outfielder Will Turner were each ranked among the Top 100 prospects for the 2024 MLB Draft by D1Baseball and MLB.com. Eight additional Sun Belt student-athletes joined the trio among D1Baseball’s Top 200 college prospects for the 2024 MLB Draft.
 
Chanticleers sophomore catcher Caden Bodine and Golden Eagles sophomore relief pitcher JB Middleton headlined a six-player Sun Belt contingent ranked among the Top 100 college prospects for the 2025 MLB Draft. 
 
The Sun Belt boasted the No. 5 conference RPI in the nation in 2023—trailing only the SEC, ACC, Big 12 and Pac-12. Four Sun Belt programs were listed among the Top 50 in the final RPI in 2023—No. 17 Southern Miss, No. 18 Coastal Carolina, No. 39 Troy and No. 50 Louisiana. 
 
No. 58 Texas State, No. 88 App State, No. 91 Old Dominion, No. 98 James Madison and No. 99 Georgia State gave the Sun Belt nine teams among the Top 100 for the second-straight season. 
 
The Sun Belt has been a multi-bid conference in 28-of-34 seasons since 1989 and has earned 21 NCAA berths over the past 10 campaigns. 
 
NATIONAL PRESEASON HONORS
D1Baseball 15 More Teams to Watch
Southern Miss
Troy
 
D1Baseball Top Transfer Classes
No. 15 Coastal Carolina
No. 17 Troy 
No. 23 Louisiana
 
D1Baseball Top 130 Impact Transfers
No. 72 Clete Hartzog, Troy (Sr., SP – Panama City, Fla.) 
 
D1Baseball Impact JUCO Transfers
Sam Antonacci, Coastal Carolina (Jr., 3B – Springfield, Ill.) 
Alexander Meckley, Coastal Carolina (Jr., SP – Gettysburg, Pa.) 
Dylan King, Troy (Jr., RP – Leola, Pa.) 
 
D1Baseball 2024 MLB Draft Top 200 College Prospects
No. 30 Derek Bender, Coastal Carolina (Jr., DH – Murrells Inlet, S.C.) 
No. 42 Kyle DeBarge, Louisiana (Jr., SS – Kinder, La.) 
No. 70 Will Turner, South Alabama (Jr., OF – Auburn, Ala.) 
No. 74 Sam Antonacci, Coastal Carolina (Jr., 3B – Springfield, Ill.) 
No. 118 Niko Mazza, Southern Miss (Jr., SP – Madison, Miss.)
No. 142 Alexander Meckley, Coastal Carolina (Jr., SP – Gettysburg, Pa.) 
No. 143 Joseph Sullivan, South Alabama (Jr., OF – Birmingham, Ala.0 
No. 147 John Holobetz, Old Dominion (Jr., SP – Pottsville, Pa.) 
No. 148 Dylan King, Troy (Jr., RP – Leola, Pa.) 
No. 157 Fenwick Trimble, James Madison (Jr., OF – Virginia Beach, Va.) 
No. 158 Jay Dill, Troy (Jr., SP – Dayton, Tenn.) 
 
D1Baseball 2025 MLB Draft Top 100 College Prospects
No. 3 Caden Bodine, Coastal Carolina (So., C – Haddon Heights, N.J.) 
No. 29 JB Middleton, Southern Miss (So., RP – Yazoo City, Minch.) 
No. 70 Peyton Watts, Troy (Fr., IF – Oxford, Ala.) 
No. 71 Chase Mora, Texas State (So., 2B – Tomball, Texas)
No. 95 Alex Bouche, Old Dominion (So., IF – Chesapeake, Va.) 
No. 99 Nick Monistere, Southern Miss (So., IF – Brandon, Miss.) 
 
MLB.com 2024 MLB Draft Top 100 Prospects
No. 61 Kyle DeBarge, Louisiana (Jr., SS – Kinder, La.) 
No. 84 Will Turner, South Alabama (Jr., OF – Auburn, Ala.) 
No. 93 Derek Bender, Coastal Carolina (Jr., DH – Murrells Inlet, S.C.) 
 
Perfect Game Impact Seniors
Slade Wilks, Southern Miss (Sr., DH – Columbia, Miss.) 
Shane Lewis, Troy (Jr., OF – Vicksburg, Miss.) 
 
Perfect Game Outside the Top 25 Omaha Contender
Southern Miss
 
Perfect Game Super Regional Cinderella
Troy