SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Several Southern Conference baseball players earned All-America honors this week, as the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and Baseball America announced their respective All-America squads Wednesday and Perfect Game did so Thursday.
Citadel catcher Joe Jackson, Elon first baseman Ryan Kinsella, UNCG outfielder Christian Wolfe and Western Carolina third baseman Tyler White earned the distinction from the NCBWA, while Kinsella and Samford outfielder Philip Ervin and utility player C.K. Irby earned the honor from Baseball America. Ervin earned spot on the Perfect Game third team.
Jackson earned his second All-America honor for the 2013 season with his selection to the NCBWA third team.
Previously, Jackson was chosen to the third team by Louisville Slugger/Collegiate Baseball. He was named to the All-Southern Conference first team by the league's media and coaches and was the Most Outstanding Player at the SoCon tournament.
Jackson was a fifth-round draft choice by the Texas Rangers last weekend and will begin his professional career as a member of the short season Spokane Indians in the Northwest League when their season begins on Friday.
Jackson batted .386 with 88 hits, 19 doubles, 13 homers, 66 runs scored and 67 RBIs as a junior in his final season with the Bulldogs. He led the SoCon in on-base percentage (.495) and was second in runs and RBIs. He finished with 150 total bases and a slugging percentage of .658.
In all, he finished in the top 10 in the conference and the top 50 in the nation in 10 statistical categories. In four games at the SoCon tournament, Jackson went 10-for-13, scored eight runs and drove in five and as the Bulldogs won their first three contests to reach the championship game.
Kinsella took second-team honors from Baseball America and third-team honors from the NCBWA.
Kinsella currently ranks second nationally with 21 home runs and 78 RBIs. The 2013 Southern Conference Player of the Year also ranks among the national leaders in runs scored (55th with 56), hits (91st with 80), doubles (50th with 19), slugging percentage (15th with a .656) and total bases (third with 168).
During his junior campaign, the Warren, N.J., native hit .313 with three triples. Kinsella was successful in seven of his eight stolen base attempts. At one point this season, Kinsella had reached base safely in 37 consecutive games. He finished the year with 20 multi-RBI performances and 24 multi-hit games in 2013. Of his 78 RBIs, 20 came with two outs.
Kinsella was a first-team All-SoCon pick as well as a SoCon All-Tournament Team selection and a Charlottesville All-Regional Team pick this year.
Kinsella, who was an 18th round selection of the Arizona Diamondbacks in this month's MLB First-Year Player Draft, was also named a third-team All-American by Louisville Slugger.
Wolfe, a second-team All-America selection by the NCBWA, hit a league-best .421 on the season, setting a new school record for single-season batting average. He also finished third in the SoCon with 88 hits on the year. He had 17 doubles, two triples and four homers en route to 39 RBIs on the year. He had a .463 on-base percentage, which was good for third in the SoCon.
Wolfe was a first-team all-conference pick by both the coaches and media. He became the first UNCG player to lead the league in batting since 2006 and just the third overall.
Wolfe is UNCG’s first NCBWA All-American since Scooter Michael was a third-team selection in 2002.
According to available research, White is just the third Catamount to grace the NCBWA’s postseason squad all-time (since 1993), joining Ross Heffley (2009-12) who picked up first-team honors in 2011 and Jason Beverlin (1992-94), who earned second-team honors in 1994. White, who earned a spot on the third team, was named third-team Louisville Slugger All-America by Collegiate Baseball on May 30.
Selected first-team All-Southern Conference at third base, White finished his final season for the Purple & Gold with a career-high .363 batting average in helping guide the Catamounts to the program’s first regular-season championship since 2007. He amassed the second-most hits on the team – and in the SoCon – with a career-high 91, including a WCU single-season record 27 doubles to erase Rod Goldston’s 10-year old record of 26 set in 2003. He hit a team-best 16 home runs, including two grand slams – blasting his first career four-RBI homer in a 7-3 road win at UNCG.
Drafted in the 33rd round of the MLB First-Year Player Draft by the Houston Astros, White ranked inside the top 10 in the SoCon in 10 statistical categories, including leading the league in total bases (166) and doubles. He ranked second in hits and home runs. White finished the regular season ranked tied for second in the nation in doubles, while his doubles per game average of 0.46 ranked him fifth.
White, the SoCon media’s pick for player of the year, capped his playing career by garnering SoCon All-Tournament team honors at the 2013 SoCon Baseball Championship.
For his career, White hit .325, tallying 77 multi-hit games, and posted multiple RBIs 42 times. He finished ranked tied for fourth in games played (228) and tied for third in games started (220), while his 882 career at bats were the third-most in program history. White finished fourth in career base hits with 287, including the third-most doubles by an individual at 64.
Samford’s Ervin was second-team All-America pick by Baseball America and a third-team selection by Perfect Game.
Earlier this month, Ervin became the first Samford player to be drafted in the first round of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. He was taken by the Cincinnati Reds with the 27th pick overall.
As a junior in the 2013 season, Ervin batted .337 with 14 doubles, a career-high 11 home runs and 40 RBIs. He also stole 21 bases in 23 attempts, and he finished with an impressive .433 on-base percentage and a .597 slugging percentage.
In just three seasons at Samford, Ervin ranks in the top 10 in school history in career hits (230), batting average (.344), runs scored (157) and doubles (47). Ervin also saw limited time as a relief pitcher in his Samford career, allowing just one run over 9 2/3 innings of work for a 0.93 ERA.
In his time in a Samford uniform, Ervin was a three-time All-SoCon team member. He was named first-team All-SoCon in 2012 and 2013, and he was named to the second team as a freshman in 2011.
Samford’s Irby, a first-team All-SoCon selection at designated hitter by both the coaches and media, was drafted in the 10th round of the MLB Draft by the Minnesota Twins with the 290th overall pick. He was a third-team All-America pick by Baseball America.
Irby led the Bulldogs with a .383 average this season, hitting eight home runs to go with 59 RBIs. He also had 16 doubles and four triples for a .599 slugging percentage on the year.
Also a weekend starter for Samford, Irby posted a team-best 4.14 ERA on the year and went 7-6 with three complete games and one shutout. He pitched 91 1/3 innings on the year, striking out 90.
On March 25, he became the first player in SoCon history to be named the league’s player of the week and pitcher of the week in the same week after hitting .562 with two homers and six RBIs and throwing a three-hit complete game on the mound.