DALLAS – Three Southern Conference players earned spots on the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association preseason All-America third team, the organization announced on Tuesday. The Citadel’s Skylar Hunter, Samford’s Andres Gracia and Western Carolina’s Bradley Strong were all honored.
Hunter, a junior closer for The Citadel, enters the 2015 campaign with a career total of 28 saves, only one behind Citadel all-time leader and Athletic Hall of Fame member Hank Kraft. Hunter tied the school record for most saves in a season with 15 a year ago, ranking first in the Southern Conference and tied for 11th nationally.
The right-hander from Hanahan, S.C., allowed 22 hits and struck out 44 in 43 innings, posted an ERA of 1.67 and held opponents to a batting average of .152. Among his saves were two against nationally ranked teams. He closed out a Bulldog win over No. 8 Louisville when he retired the final six batters, including three strikeouts, and finished off a victory over No. 6 South Carolina when he fanned the potential tying run in the ninth.
Hunter also picked up two wins last year in which he went a total of seven innings. He struck out four and did not allow a run in season-high four innings against eventual Super Regional qualifier College of Charleston and tossed three innings of two-hit shutout ball with three strikeouts against Coastal Carolina.
Hunter assumed the closer's role during the fall of his freshman season and proceeded to save 13 games to rank second in the SoCon and 20th in the country. The first Bulldog to record double figures in saves since Link Saunders in 2006, Hunter struck out 44 in 35 1/3 innings, an average of 11.21 per nine innings, and was named second-team All-SoCon and to the Louisville Slugger/Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-America squad.
The Citadel begins its 2015 season on Friday, Feb. 13, when Air Force visits Riley Park in the opener of a three-game series. The Bulldogs have 36 regular-season home games on the slate and then play host to the SoCon tournament on May 19-24.
As a junior in 2014, Samford’s Gracia posted an impressive 0.79 ERA, allowing just three earned runs in 34 innings of work. Gracia had 14 saves and finished with a record of 2-1 for the season.
Gracia recorded 38 strikeouts, while allowing just 12 walks in 2014. He held opposing batters to a .211 average throughout the season.
For his Samford career, Gracia has an ERA of 2.84, with 17 saves over 92 innings. He has posted 74 strikeouts and just 25 walks in three full seasons in a Samford uniform.
Gracia and the Bulldogs will open the 2015 season on Friday, Feb. 13, when the Bulldogs open a three-game series with Radford at Joe Lee Griffin Field. The teams will play Feb. 13 at 6 p.m. CST, Feb. 14 at 2 p.m. and Feb. 15 at 1 p.m.
Western Carolina’s Strong appeared on two of the four preseason All-America squads released prior to the 2015 season. The Richlands, Va., native was joined by classmate Jacob Hoyle on the Louisville Slugger Preseason All-America team as released by Collegiate Baseball newspaper.
One of four team captains for WCU entering 2015, Strong is coming off an impressive junior campaign that landed him third-team postseason Louisville Slugger All-America honors from Collegiate Baseball newspaper following 2014. He was a first-team All-Southern Conference selection by the league’s head coaches and garnered second-team All-Atlantic region plaudits from the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA).
Strong batted a career-best .339 last spring to raise his career average to .314. He posted career bests with 20 doubles, six triples and six home runs among his team-leading 81 seasonal hits, with a career-high 53 RBIs. He also tallied a career-high 20 stolen bases on 25 attempts. Strong paced the SoCon with 58 runs scored on the year.
Strong will carry a 14-game hitting streak into 2015. He also enters his senior season ranked second on WCU’s career triples chart with 13 through his first three seasons to match former Catamount Danny Jones (13, 1964-67). He is just two three-baggers shy of matching all-time record holder Martin Barrow, who had 15 triples from 1995-98.
The Southern Conference's 2015 preseason polls and all-conference teams are slated to be released on Thursday, Feb. 5.
The Catamounts open the 2015 campaign with a three-game homestand beginning Friday, Feb. 13, against the Purdue Boilermakers out of the Big Ten Conference as a part of four straight home dates to begin their regular-season title defense. WCU will also host mountain rival UNC Asheville on Feb. 18 in Cullowhee, N.C., before playing its first games away from home in tournament action in Wilmington, N.C., at the Hughes Bros. Challenge, hosted by UNCW.