Big South Announces Baseball Annual Award Winners
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (BigSouthSports.com) – Campbell junior outfielder/relief pitcher Cole Hallum (Bakersfield, Calif.) has been voted the 2015 Big South Baseball Player of the Year, while Liberty senior left-hander Jared Lyons (Yorktown, Va.) was tabbed the Pitcher of the Year by the league’s head coaches. Radford skipper Joe Raccuia garnered Coach of the Year honors and Coastal Carolina right-hander Bobby Holmes (Athens, Ga.) is the Freshman of the Year. Alex Close of Liberty was voted the Scholar-Athlete of the Year by the conference’s sports information directors.
Hallum batted .313 (47-for-150) with 12 home runs and 45 RBI at the plate, and owned a 1.08 ERA with nine saves in 25 innings on the mound. He finished second in the Big South in slugging percentage (.607), tied for third in home runs, and tied for fourth in RBI. The junior’s nine saves were good for second-best in the league and marked the fourth-most in a single season in program history. Hallum was a two-time Big South Player of the Week and was named a Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week on March 23. He earned three first-place votes and eight total points from the league’s head coaches, just ahead of second-place Josh Gardiner of Radford, who received two first-place votes and six total points.
Lyons was 8-1 with a 1.87 ERA and 0.91 WHIP in 15 appearances (12 starts) in his senior season. He led the Big South with three complete games and two shutouts while striking out 91 batters in 91.2 innings. The southpaw ranked second in the conference in ERA and innings pitched, tied for third in wins, and fourth in strikeouts. His .190 opponents’ batting average against paced the league. Lyons was a three-time Big South Pitcher of the Week honoree. He received nine of a possible 11 first-place votes and finished with 19 points. Radford reliever Ryan Meisinger finished second in the voting with one first-place vote and seven total points.
Raccuia led the Highlanders to the outright regular season title and the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament. The league championship was the first in RU program history. Radford finished 39-14 overall and 20-4 in the Big South in 2015. Their 39 wins are the most in school annals. Entering the Big South Tournament, RU has received recognition in several national polls and has ranked among the top 20 in the NCAA RPI for five consecutive weeks. Raccuia received a first-place vote from every opposing coach in the conference and earned 32 total points. Coastal Carolina’s Gary Gilmore finished second in the voting with 15 points.
Holmes was 4-0 with three saves and a 2.10 ERA in 51.1 innings. He struck out 47 batters while walking just 13 in 24 appearances (two starts). The righty held opponents to just a .211 batting average. On May 3, at then-No. 7 Florida State, the freshman entered the game in relief and pitched six hitless, scoreless innings to earn the win. He garnered seven first-place votes and 17 total points, ahead of Carson Jackson of High Point, who received two first-place votes and eight total points.
Close, a business administration: finance major, earned a 3.84 GPA. He was a 2014 Capital One Academic All-American first time honoree, as well as a 2015 Capital One Academic All-District 3 first team member. He was awarded the 2015 Rock Royer/Max Rivera Award winner, which honors the top graduation senior student-athlete at Liberty.
2015 Big South Conference Baseball Award Winners
Player of the Year
Cole Hallum Jr., OF/RP, Campbell
Pitcher of the Year
Jared Lyons, Sr., LHP, Liberty
Coach of the Year
Joe Raccuia, Radford
Freshman of the Year
Bobby Holmes, RHP, Coastal Carolina
Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Alex Close, Sr., 1B/P, Liberty
First Team All-Conference
Outfielders
Josh Greene, So., High Point
Anthony Marks, Jr., Coastal Carolina
Anthony Paulsen, R-So., Winthrop
Infielders
Josh Gardiner, Sr., Radford
Alex Close, Sr., Liberty
Tommy Houmard, Sr., UNC Asheville
Michael Paez, So., Coastal Carolina
Catcher
Cam McRae, Sr., Presbyterian
Utility
Cole Hallum, Jr., OF/RP, Campbell
Designated Hitter
Patrick Marshall, Sr., Radford
Starting Pitchers
Jared Lyons, Sr., LHP, Liberty
Michael Boyle, Jr., LHP, Radford
Austin Kerr, Sr., LHP, Coastal Carolina
Relief Pitcher
Ryan Meisinger, Jr., RHP, Radford
Second Team All-Conference
Outfielders
Cedric Mullins, Jr., Campbell
Kyri Washington, Jr., Longwood
Shane Johnsonbaugh, Jr., Radford
Infielders
Spencer Angelis, Sr., High Point
Hunter Bryant, Sr., UNC Asheville
Brad Kaczka, Sr., Winthrop
Hunter Higgerson, Sr., Radford
Catcher
Steven Leonard, R-Jr., Campbell
Utility
Connor Owings, Jr., Coastal Carolina
Designated Hitter
Matt Parrish, Jr., Campbell
Starting Pitchers
Heath Bowers, Sr., RHP, Campbell
Matt Crohan, So., LHP, Winthrop
Andrew Tomasovich, Jr., LHP, Charleston Southern
Relief Pitcher
Bobby Holmes, Fr., RHP, Coastal Carolina
Honorable Mention All-Conference
Nate Blanchard, So., INF, Charleston Southern
Alex Cunningham, R-So., RHP, Coastal Carolina
Brian Dye, Jr., INF, Charleston Southern
Jay Lizanich, Sr., INF, Presbyterian
Aaron Myers, Sr., RHP, Longwood
All-Academic Team
Matt Parrish, Jr., C, Campbell
Robbie Streett, Sr., 1B/3B, Charleston Southern
Tyler Chadwick, Jr., 1B, Coastal Carolina
Ryan Hodge, Sr., SS, Gardner-Webb
Will Resnik, Sr., P, High Point
Alex Close, Sr., 1B/P, Liberty
Kyri Washington, Jr., OF, Longwood
Jay Lizanich, Sr., SS, Presbyterian College
Josh Reavis, Sr., C, Radford
Hunter Bryant, Sr., INF, UNC Asheville
Brad Kaczka, Sr., 3B, Winthrop