Big South Announces 2024 Preseason Baseball Poll & Honors
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) – For the first time,
USC Upstate has been voted the Big South Conference’s preseason baseball favorite by the league’s head coaches, it was announced today by the Conference office. In addition, the coaches voted UNC Asheville outfielder
Robbie Burnett (Franklinton, N.C.) the conference’s Preseason Player of the Year and High Point hurler
Gus Hughes (Greensboro, N.C.) the league’s Preseason Pitcher of the Year. Both players also earned spots on the inaugural preseason All-Conference team, which is listed below.
The Spartans, last year’s Tournament Runner-up, finished second in the Big South standings last season with a 21-6 record and was 38-22 overall with wins over Power 5 programs Clemson and Northwestern. USC Upstate received seven first-place votes and 79 total points to win the league title in 2024.
Gardner-Webb was second in the preseason poll with 61 points -- the Runnin’ Bulldogs’ highest standing in the ranking since 2013 and 2014.
High Point finished in the third spot with 50 points, just ahead of
Winthrop (one first-place vote) and
UNC Asheville, who tied for fourth with 49 points each.
Presbyterian College was sixth in the voting with 39 points, while
Charleston Southern finished seventh with 32 points.
Longwood followed in the eighth position with 27 points, and
Radford finished ninth in the voting with 19 points and received the remaining first-place vote.
Burnett is the first UNC Asheville baseball player to earn Preseason Player of the Year honors. A two-time All-Big South honoree (First-Team in 2023, Honorable Mention in 2022), Burnett led Asheville last season with a .379 batting average to go with 13 home runs and 35 RBI. He stole 11 bases, scored 48 runs and drew 24 walks for a .486 on-base percentage. Burnett’s knack of getting on base sparked a 33-game on-base streak in 2023, and he collected 21 multi-hit performances during his sophomore season. Burnett hit .398 in 21 Big South games a year ago with six doubles, two triples, seven homers, a .490 on-base percentage and .771 slugging clip. He received five first-place votes and 22 points in the preseason voting, ahead of USC Upstate’s
Grant Sherrod (three first-place votes and 16 points) and High Point’s
Cael Chatham (one first-place vote and eight points).
Hughes is High Point’s first Preseason Pitcher of the Year honoree since 2019 and second overall. A Second-Team All-Big South selection in 2023, Hughes went 6-5 on the hill in 14 appearances (all starts) with a 1.33 WHIP. He pitched 81.1 innings, allowed 73 hits, posted a 4.98 earned run average, and had a team-high 90 strikeouts to rank third in the Big South. Hughes had the fifth-most strikeouts in a season in program history, and tallied a school-record 15 strikeouts against Lafayette on March 5. Hughes, who was fourth in the Big South in opponent batting average (.239), was 4-2 in conference play with a 1.30 WHIP, 4.20 ERA and 56 strikeouts in 55.2 innings pitched. He received four first-place votes and 19 points in the Preseason Pitcher of the Year voting, ahead of USC Upstate’s
Jake Cubbler (three first-place votes and 17 points) and UNC Asheville’s
Justin Honeycutt (six points).
The 2024 baseball season begins Friday, Feb. 16, and the first Big South conference weekend is March 15-17. The top four teams in the final conference standings will advance to the Big South Baseball Championship, which will be held May 23-25 at Truist Point in High Point, N.C. The champion receives the Big South’s automatic bid to the NCAA Championship.
2024 BIG SOUTH BASEBALL PRESEASON POLL
| Rk - School (first-place votes) |
Points |
| 1 - USC Upstate (7) |
79 |
| 2 - Gardner-Webb |
61 |
| 3 - High Point |
50 |
| T-4 - Winthrop (1) |
49 |
| T-4 - UNC Asheville |
49 |
| 6 - Presbyterian College |
39 |
| 7 - Charleston Southern |
32 |
| 8 - Longwood |
27 |
| 9 - Radford (1) |
19 |
Note: points are based on a weighted system, with first-place votes receiving 9 points, followed by 8 points for second-place, and so on.
PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
OF - Robbie Burnett, Jr., UNC Asheville
OF - Brett Ahalt, R-Jr., High Point
OF - Daniel Gernon, R-Sr., USC Upstate
OF - Dylan Bacot, 5th Year, UNC Asheville
INF - Grant Sherrod, R-Sr., USC Upstate
INF - Brody Fahr, Sr., Presbyterian
INF - Cael Chatham, Gr., High Point
INF - Alec Burns, Gr., Gardner-Webb
INF - Adam Stuart, R-Sr., High Point
C - Nicholas Badillo, Soph., Winthrop
DH - Jace Rinehart, Jr., USC Upstate
UTL - Noah Sullivan, Jr., USC Upstate
SP - Gus Hughes, Sr., High Point
SP - Henry Proger, Sr., USC Upstate
SP - Mathieu Curtis, Soph., USC Upstate
SP - Ethan Walker, Soph., Longwood
RP - Jake Cubbler, R-Jr., USC Upstate
RP - Tanner Smith, 5th Year, Presbyterian
RP - Justin Honeycutt, Sr., UNC Asheville
PRESEASON PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Robbie Burnett, OF, Jr., UNC Asheville
PRESEASON PITCHER OF THE YEAR
Gus Hughes, SP, Sr., High Point