NEW ORLEANS – Following a vote of the conference’s 14 head coaches, Troy’s Jimmy Janicki, Southern Miss’ Grayden Harris, App State’s Gage Peterson, Georgia Southern’s Brady Christman, Marshall’s Bryce Blevins and Southern Miss’ Christian Ostrander received the Sun Belt baseball postseason honors, which were released alongside the 2026 All-Sun Belt Teams and All-Sun Belt Freshman Team on Monday.
Troy’s Janicki was named the Player of the Year; Southern Miss’ Harris was selected as the Pitcher of the Year; App State’s Peterson was dubbed the Newcomer of the Year; Georgia Southern’s Christman was tabbed as the Freshman of the Year; Marshall’s Blevins was honored with the Tony Robichaux Leadership Award and Southern Miss’ Ostrander was recognized as the Ron Maestri Coach of the Year.
Troy sophomore catcher Janicki led the Sun Belt with 152 total bases, 70 RBI and 17 home runs, while ranking second in the conference with 78 hits, 21 doubles and a .688 slugging percentage. The Downers Grove, Ill., native’s .353 batting average also ranked among the Top 10 in the league. Janicki’s doubles, RBI and total bases tallies ranked among the Top 20 in the nation.
Southern Miss sophomore left-handed pitcher Harris led the Sun Belt with eight wins and ranked among the Top 5 in the league with 93 strikeouts, a 5.17 strikeout to walk ratio, a 3.10 ERA and 10.69 strikeouts per nine innings. The Central, La., product also compiled a 1.20 WHIP and conceded just 2.07 walks per nine innings—both among the Top 10 in the conference. Harris’ strikeout to walk ratio and win tally both ranked among the Top 30 in the country.
App State junior right-handed pitcher Peterson paced the Sun Belt with eight wins and 101 strikeouts and ranked among the Top 5 in the league with 11.65 strikeouts per nine innings, 6.35 hits allowed per nine innings and a 1.17 WHIP. The Jonesborough, Tenn., native also ranked among the Top 10 in the league with a 3.12 ERA. Peterson’s hits allowed per nine innings, strikeout and win totals all ranked among the Top 30 in the nation, while his 101 strikeouts sit second in Mountaineer single-season program history.
Georgia Southern freshman catcher and outfielder Christman led the Sun Belt with a .480 on-base percentage and .719 slugging percentage, while ranking among the Top 3 in the conference with a .384 batting average and four triples. The Forsyth, Ga., product’s slugging percentage and batting average both ranked among the Top 35 in the country. Christman posted a 32-game on-base streak and a 23-game hitting streak—the second-longest by a Sun Belt player this season. His 12 home runs sit second among freshmen in Eagles program history.
Marshall senior left-handed pitcher Blevins paced the Sun Belt with eight wins and ranked among the Top 5 in the league with two complete games, 1.59 walks allowed per nine innings, 4.78 strikeouts per nine innings and 86 strikeouts. The Louisa, Ky., native has shaped the culture of the Thundering Herd pitching staff as a mentor and standard-bearer within the program, while leading the nation with 102.0 innings pitched as a senior. The soon-to-be two-time graduate of Marshall embodies the on and off field principles that late Louisiana head coach Tony Robichaux preached to his players and community, making him an ideal recipient of the Tony Robichaux Leadership Award.
Southern Miss head coach Ostrander guided the Golden Eagles to their 10th-straight 40-win season, finishing the regular season with a 40-14 record and a Sun Belt-leading 22-8 conference mark to earn the program’s first outright Sun Belt regular-season title and the No. 1 seed in the Sun Belt Baseball Championship presented by Troy University. Under his leadership, the Golden Eagles won 15 of their last 17 games—including 14 of their last 15 Sun Belt contests—and enter the postseason on a nine-game winning streak that leads the nation.
The Sun Belt boasts five Top 46 RPI teams entering this week’s Sun Belt Baseball Championship presented by Troy University. Over the past four seasons, the Sun Belt has sent 14 teams to NCAA Baseball Regionals, 10 to NCAA Baseball Regional finals, two to NCAA Baseball Super Regionals and one to the championship series at the College World Series. That grouping has included four regional hosts and national seeds—No. 13 Coastal Carolina (2025), No. 16 Southern Miss (2025), No. 10 Coastal Carolina (2023) and No. 16 Georgia Southern (2022).
Sun Belt regular-season champion Southern Miss led all programs with six All-Sun Belt honorees and five All-Sun Belt First Team nods. App State (3), Louisiana (3), Troy (3), Texas State (3), Coastal Carolina (2), Marshall (2) and South Alabama (2) each had multiple All-Sun Belt honorees. Troy (3) and App State (2) joined Southern Miss in producing multiple All-Sun Belt First Team picks. 12-of-14 Sun Belt programs were represented on the two All-Sun Belt teams.
Louisiana paced all Sun Belt programs with four first-year players honored on the inaugural All-Sun Belt Freshman Team, with Coastal Carolina (2), Georgia Southern (2) and Texas State (2) also producing multiple award recipients.
Player of the Year
Jimmy Janicki, Troy (So., C – Downers Grove, Ill.)
Pitcher of the Year
Grayden Harris, Southern Miss (So., LHP – Central, La.)
Newcomer of the Year
Gage Peterson, App State (Jr., RHP – Jonesborough, Tenn.)
Freshman of the Year
Brady Christman, Georgia Southern (Fr., C/OF – Forsyth, Ga.)
Tony Robichaux Leadership Award
Bryce Blevins, Marshall (Sr., LHP – Louisa, Ky.)
Ron Maestri Coach of the Year
Christian Ostrander, Southern Miss
All-Sun Belt First Team
P Gage Peterson, App State (Jr., RHP – Jonesborough, Tenn.)
P Camden Clark, Southern Miss (So., RHP – Laurel, Miss.)
P Grayden Harris, Southern Miss (So., LHP – Central, La.)
RP Darin Horn, Coastal Carolina (RS Sr., RHP – Bluffton, S.C.)
C Jimmy Janicki, Troy (So., C – Downers Grove, Ill.)
1B Matthew Russo, Southern Miss (Sr., 1B – Madisonville, La.)
2B Kyle Morrison, Southern Miss (Sr., 2B – Wetumpka, Ala.)
SS Steven Smith, App State (Gr., SS – Salisbury, N.C.)
3B Wills Maginnis, Georgia State (So., 3B – Newnan, Ga.)
OF Evan Bottone, Marshall (Jr., OF – Bay Village, Ohio)
OF Davis Gillespie, Southern Miss (RS Jr., OF – Birmingham, Ala.)
OF Aaron Piasecki, Troy (Sr., OF – Muskegon, Mich.)
DH Brady Christman, Georgia Southern (Fr., DH – Forsyth, Ga.)
UT Drew Nelson, Troy (Sr., UT – Troy, Ala.)
All-Sun Belt Second Team
P Cody Brasch, Louisiana (Jr., RHP – Haslet, Texas)
P Andrew Herrmann, Louisiana (Gr., LHP – Kennesaw, Ga.)
P Bryce Blevins, Marshall (Sr., LHP – Louisa, Ky.)
RP Colby Allen, Southern Miss (Sr., RHP – Louisville, Miss.)
C Colt Brown, Louisiana (Fr., C – Seguin, Texas)
1B Derek Martinez, Arkansas State (Fr., 1B – Clermont, Fla.)
2B Brennon Wright, South Alabama (Jr., 2B – Starkville, Miss.)
SS Will Johnson, Old Dominion (Jr., SS – Allen, Texas)
3B Stewart Puckett, South Alabama (RS Jr., 3B – DeLeon Springs, Fla.)
OF Charlie Evans, App State (Sr., OF – Levittown, Pa.)
OF Rex Watson, Coastal Carolina (So., OF – Manteca, Calif.)
OF Rashawn Galloway, Texas State (Sr., OF – Boerne, Texas)
DH Manny Salas, Texas State (Jr., DH – North Richland Hills, Texas)
UT Jaquae Stewart, Texas State (Jr., UT – Sinton, Texas)
All-Sun Belt Freshman Team
Colton Denton, App State (Fr., C – Knoxville, Tenn.)
Derek Martinez, Arkansas State (Fr., 1B – Clermont, Fla.)
Case Bosch, Coastal Carolina (Fr., LHP – Jenison, Mich.)
Jackson Smallets, Coastal Carolina (Fr., RHP – Sicklerville, N.J.)
Brady Christman, Georgia Southern (Fr., C/OF – Forsyth, Ga.)
Bennett Edwards, Georgia Southern (Fr., C/OF – Laurens, S.C.)
Colt Brown, Louisiana (Fr., C – Seguin, Texas)
Noah Lewis, Louisiana (Fr., OF – Baton Rouge, La.)
Sawyer Pruitt, Louisiana (Fr., RHP – Watson, La.)
Blaze Rodriguez, Louisiana (Fr., SS – Slidell, La.)
Garrett Wiethorn, ULM (Fr., OF – McGregor, Texas)
Ben Tanton, Old Dominion (Fr., RHP – Vestal, N.Y.)
Jackson Cotton, Texas State (Fr., OF – Missouri City, Texas)
Clayton Namken, Texas State (Fr., C – New Braunfels, Texas)