Eagles Sweep Coaches SoCon Player and Pitcher of the Year Awards
5/23/2011 8:14:00 PM | Baseball
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The Georgia Southern Baseball team had five players Named All-Southern Conference as voted on by the league's 11 head coaches. Four Eagles were tabbed First Team All-Conference including Player of the Year Victor Roache (Ypsilanti, Mich.) and Pitcher of the Year Matt Murray (Spring City, Pa.). Joining Roache and Murray on the first team is senior pitcher Andy Moye (Alpharetta, Ga.) and junior shortstop Eric Phillips (Carrollton, Ga.).
Roache set SoCon and GSU single-season home run records en route to the Player of the Year Award. The sophomore outfielder has posted a .335 batting average with 29 home runs and 78 RBIs in 55 games this season.
Murray is 4-2 on the year with eight saves and a 1.99 earned run average to take home Pitcher of the Year honors. The junior pitcher leads the SoCon in ERA and opposing batting average. Opponents are hitting just .188 off of Murray and he has struck out 63 batters to just 19 walks this year.
Moye earned the All-Conference accolade for the first time in his career at Georgia Southern. The senior pitcher had an outstanding year on the mound, posting a 6-1 record with a 2.71 ERA. Phillips also joined Moye on the first team, the first time he appeared on the top team in his career. The junior shortstop hit just under .400 in the regular season and stole 21 bases out of 25 attempts.
Shawn Payne (Stone Mountain, Ga.) was GSU's only selection on the All-Conference Second Team. Payne posted a .326 batting average with five doubles and 38 RBIs in the regular season, while stealing 29 bases in 31 attempts.
College of Charleston's Daniel Aldrich, who ranks second in the SoCon in homers, was named Freshman of the Year, while UNC Greensboro Head Coach Mike Gaski was tabbed as the Coach of the Year.
The Eagles face the College of Charleston in their first game of the 2011 Southern Conference Tournament on Wednesday, May 25th, at 9 p.m. The game can be heard on Eagle 102.9 FM in Statesboro and is also available online at GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com/Eaglevision beginning 30 minutes prior to first pitch.
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