Roache, Murray earn Player and Pitcher of the Year honors
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Georgia Southern right fielder Victor Roache has been voted the Southern Conference Player of the Year while Matt Murray, a junior right-handed reliever, has been honored as the Pitcher of the Year. The league's 11 head coaches also selected two all-conference teams and an all-freshman team.
UNCG head coach Mike Gaski was voted as the league's coach of the year after guiding his team to a 22-8 SoCon record and second-place finish after being predicted to finish no higher than ninth in the preseason polls.
College of Charleston outfielder Daniel Aldrich earned Freshman of the Year honors.
College of Charleston, Georgia Southern and Samford led the way with five all-conference selections apiece. Western Carolina earned three all-league nods followed by two each from Elon and UNCG, the top two teams in the final conference standings.
Roache has had one of the best seasons at the plate in league history, shattering the Southern Conference's single-season home run record with 29 round-trippers on the year. The slugger had four multi-homer games, including a career-high three against The Citadel on April 2. Aside from leading the nation in home runs, Roache is also one of the country's top run producers, driving in a SoCon-high 78 runs during the regular season and scoring 55 times. The sophomore's .813 slugging percentage also paces the league and places him fifth in the SoCon's single-season record book.
Murray was a key part of Georgia Southern's success this season coming out of the bullpen. Among all pitchers who met the minimum requirements for innings pitched, the junior led the league in both ERA (1.99) and opponents' batting average (.188). Murray fashioned a 4-2 record to go along with eight saves and 63 strikeouts. A versatile performer, Murray pitched at least two innings in 17 of his 23 appearances on the year and allowed more than one earned run just three times.
Aldrich excelled from the start for the Cougars, batting .372 with 22 home runs and 72 runs batted in during his rookie campaign. He led all Division I freshmen in home runs and RBIs as well as slugging percentage (.794) and total bases (162). The freshman was one of the main reasons Charleston led the Southern Conference in scoring for the fourth time in the past five seasons.
Four Georgia Southern players earned first-team all-conference honors, including starting pitcher Andy Moye, shortstop Eric Phillips, Murray and Roache.
Joining Aldrich on the first team were teammates Josh Renfro, a starting pitcher, and third baseman Matt Leeds.
The Citadel's Nick Orvin earned first team honors along with UNCG's Warren Slack and Trevor Edwards, Samford's Saxon Butler and the Western Carolina duo of Ross Heffley and Stephen Notaro.
Gaski was voted by his peers as coach of the year for the second time in his career and the first since 1998. In the preseason, the Spartans were predicted to finish tenth by the league's media and ninth by the coaches, but Gaski's squad proved them wrong by placing second and fashioning a 22-8 SoCon mark and 34-18 overall record entering tournament play. The 22 wins tied the 1998 team for the most in school history, and UNCG closed the regular season as winners of eight straight and 15 of the last 16.
Coaches were not permitted to vote for their own players or themselves in the voting process.
2011 SoCon Baseball All-Conference Team
Player of the Year - Victor Roache, So., OF, Georgia Southern
Pitcher of the Year - Matt Murray, Jr., RHP, Georgia Southern
Freshman of the Year - Daniel Aldrich, OF, College of Charleston
Coach of the Year - Mike Gaski, UNCG
First Team
SP Josh Renfro, College of Charleston
SP Andy Moye, Georgia Southern
SP Warren Slack, UNCG
RP Matt Murray, Georgia Southern
C Trevor Edwards, UNCG
1B Saxon Butler, Samford
2B Ross Heffley, Western Carolina
SS Eric Phillips, Georgia Southern
3B Matt Leeds, College of Charleston
OF Daniel Aldrich, College of Charleston
OF Nick Orvin, The Citadel
OF Victor Roache, Georgia Southern
DH Stephen Notaro, Western Carolina
Second Team
SP Christian Powell, College of Charleston
SP Kyle Putkonen, Samford
RP Andrew Jones, Samford
C Rob Kral, College of Charleston
1B Aaron Thompkins, Furman
2B Sebastian Gomez, Elon
SS Neal Pritchard, Elon
3B Austin Schultz, Western Carolina
OF Shawn Payne, Georgia Southern
OF Phillip Ervin, Samford
OF Brandon Miller, Samford
DH Mac Doyle, Wofford
All-Freshman Team
Preston Troutman, Appalachian State
Daniel Aldrich, College of Charleston
Drew DeKerlegand, The Citadel
Joe Jackson, The Citadel
Forrest Brandt, Davidson
Sebastian Gomez, Elon
David Whitehead, Elon
Brandon Browne, UNCG
Phillip Ervin, Samford
C.K. Irby, Samford
Aaron Attaway, Western Carolina
Adam Martin, Western Carolina