ATLANTA, Ga. – Six Spring Hill College baseball players earned Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular season honors announced by the conference office on Thursday, April 30.
The Badgers this season posted a 36-12 overall regular season record, while going 29-4 in the conference to win the regular season title and the number one seed in the SIAC Baseball Championship Tournament.
Starting pitcher senior
Garrett Lott was named the Starting Pitcher of the Year, while earning All-Conference First Team honors. Fellow starting pitcher redshirt-senior
Ray Ochoa and junior shortstop
Jatnier Torres were named to the SIAC All-Conference First Team.
Junior starting pitcher
Wyatt Brown, third baseman redshirt-senior
Jaylen Jones, and redshirt-junior designated hitter
Jordan Black were all named All-Conference Second Team.
Lott, this season, posted a 9-1 record with a 2.76 earned run average (ERA) in 14 appearances and nine starts. His nine wins were a team-high, along with his ERA. The senior tallied a season-high 10 strikeouts against Lance College on March 27. He allowed four walks over seven innings while posting 10 strikeouts and no hits to earn the win. His ERA led the SIAC, along with his .170 opposing batting average. Lott's nine wins tied for second in the league, and he was fifth in strikeouts with 73.
Starting pitcher Ochoa appeared and started 13 games, posting an 8-2 mark with a 4.22 ERA. His eight wins tied him for second on the team. He led the team in innings pitched in the regular season with 70.1 innings, while finishing first in strikeouts (78) and complete games (3). In his last start on April 24 against Clark Atlanta, he allowed three hits over six innings with a season-high nine strikeouts.
Torres, who started 40 of 42 games this season at shortstop, led the team in batting average with a .390. The junior led the team in doubles with 16 and OPS with a 1.188. Torres was tied for second in walks (32) and second in hits (60). His batting average ranks fifth in the conference, and he is tied for sixth in doubles. He is currently riding an eleven-game hitting streak. In his last three games, he is 7-for-12 with seven doubles, two triples, a home run, and four RBIs.
Pitcher Brown started 11 of 13 appearances this season. His 64 innings pitched this season were second on the team. The junior held hitters to a .234 batting average. Brown posted a perfect 8-0record this season. The eight wins tied him for second in the SIAC with teammate Ocha. His 2.81 ERA was second in the conference. In Brown's last two outings, he allowed two runs (one earned), eight strikeouts, and seven hits over 8.2 innings.
Jones, who earned second team, was second on the team in batting average, hitting .364 for the season. He played in 46 games, starting all of them. The redshirt senior led the team in home runs with 12. His 63 hits are sixth in the SIAC, while his 48 RBIs and 16 doubles are seventh. In his last two regular-season games, he is 4-for-7 with two runs scored, a double, a triple, and three RBIs.
Designated hitter Black, who earned Second Team All-Conference, led the team in RBIs with 50 while hitting .311 on the season. His 50 RBIs placed him fifth in the conference, with his 61 runs scored being second in the conference and first on the team. Black tallied 11 home runs, which was second on the Badgers and tied for sixth in the SIAC. He finished the regular season with 13 multi-hit games, with a season-high four hits coming back on March 28 in game one of a doubleheader against Lane. In that game, he was 4-for-6 with two runs scored, a double, a home run, a triple, and three RBIs. He hit for the cycle when he tallied a single during the contest.
