TUCSON, Ariz. – ETSU junior catcher Hagen Owenby and Western Carolina redshirt senior outfielder Bryson Bowman have been named to the 2017 Collegiate Baseball Preseason All-America teams by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper.
Owenby, who earned a spot on the second team, is coming off a mammoth 2016 season in which he hit .374 (88-235) with 16 doubles, 17 home runs, 46 runs and 60 RBIs in 57 starts for the Bucs. The Buccaneer slugger was selected in the 14th round by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 2016 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, while he also won the TD Ameritrade Home Run Derby at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha. Owenby also earned Louisville Slugger All-American and first-team All-Southern Conference honors.
Last season, Owenby paced the Bucs in average, hits, home runs and slugging percentage (.660), while also posting 29 multi-hit and 16 multi-RBI games. To go with his other honors, Owenby was also named Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week on May 2, SoCon Player of the Month (in May) and landed on the ABCA/Rawlings All-Region Team.
Owenby and the Bucs open the 2017 baseball season with a home series with Central Michigan starting on Feb. 17 at Thomas Stadium.
Bowman’s preseason All-America honor is the first for a Catamount since 2015, when both Jacob Hoyle and Bradley Strong collected plaudits. Bowman, a third-team pick, is the ninth different WCU baseball player since 2005 to collect preseason All-America honors. Those nine have combined for 11 honors with Hoyle (2014, 2015) and Ross Heffley (2010, 2012) both earning honors twice.
WCU was also one of three SoCon teams to grace the same publication’s preseason rankings, appearing in the “others receiving votes” category. The Catamounts were joined by Mercer and UNCG among the top teams to watch in 2017 in the preseason polling.
A 33rd-round draft pick by the New York Yankees a season ago, Bowman made the decision to return to WCU for his senior campaign. A product of Baton, N.C., and South Caldwell High School, Bowman hit .326 a season ago in 62 games, including 61 starts in the outfield. He was a second-team All-SoCon selection by both the league’s head coaches and voting media, while also collecting first-team ABCA/Rawlings Atlantic All-Region and third-team NCBWA All-America accolades.
Among his 74 hits last season, Bowman tallied 19 home runs – third in the SoCon – with 13 doubles and three triples. He scored a team-best 62 runs to also rank third in the conference race, while ranking second on the Catamount squad with 60 RBIs in his first season in a Purple & Gold uniform. All told, his .661 seasonal slugging percentage ranked fourth-best in the league.
Western Carolina will hold its 2017 “Celebration of Catamount Baseball” on Saturday, Feb. 4, in the Grand Room of the Hinds University Center on-campus in Cullowhee. In addition to introducing the 2017 Catamounts and revealing this year’s “Leggett No. 7 Legacy” recipient, WCU will honor former All-America infielder – and current Houston Astro – Tyler White.
The Catamounts are slated to open the 2017 season Feb. 17-19. The full season schedule will be released in the coming days.