SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Southern Conference announced its May athletes of the month for baseball on Tuesday, highlighting excellence among student-athletes during the month.
BASEBALL
Player
Hagen Owenby, ETSU, So., C
ETSU catcher Hagen Owenby hit a league-best .426 in May, collecting multiple hits in 10 of his 15 contests and hitting safely in 13 of them as the Bucs went 9-6 overall and 8-2 in SoCon play. The sophomore from Knoxville, Tenn., was also second in the league in the month with a .796 slugging percentage and a .500 on-base percentage, helping ETSU, which entered the month 5-9 in SoCon play, finish 13-11 and in a tie for fifth place. Owenby scored 16 runs and drove in 16 in May, hitting two doubles and sharing the league lead with six homers. He also drew 10 walks and struck out just three times in 54 at-bats. Owenby, who failed to reach base in just one May contest, opened the month with a 3-for-4 showing against VMI in which he hit a two-run homer and scored three times. He collected six hits and six RBIs in a three-game sweep of The Citadel and totaled three home runs in ETSU’s first two games at Wofford. The first-team all-conference selection had at least two RBIs in six contests and scored at least one run in 10 games.
Others nominated: Bret Hines (The Citadel), Trey Truitt (Mercer), Cesar Trejo (UNCG), Heath Quinn (Samford), Matt Smith (Western Carolina) and Derek Hirsch (Wofford).
Pitcher
Will Gaddis, Furman, So., RHP
Furman right-hander Will Gaddis went 3-1 with a 1.20 ERA in May, throwing a pair of complete games. The SoCon Pitcher of the Year struck out 24 batters and walked just six in 30 innings, throwing a shutout in his final start of the season and contributing to another. The sophomore from Brentwood, Tenn., opened his month win a complete-game win over eventual SoCon champion Western Carolina, allowing just one earned run, striking out seven and not issuing a walk. After allowing three earned runs to VMI in his only loss of the month, Gaddis rebounded with a pair of stellar outings to finish the year. He threw seven innings of three-hit, shutout ball in a 2-0 win over Wofford to cap his regular season and dominated ETSU in the Paladins’ first contest of the SoCon Championship, striking out eight and walking one in a 3-0 complete-game shutout in which he allowed just four hits. For the month, Gaddis allowed just three extra-base hits and held opponents to a .200 batting average. He earned a spot on the SoCon Championship all-tournament team.
Others nominated: Jamin McCann (ETSU), Ryan Askew (Mercer), Chad Sykes (UNCG), Wyatt Burns (Samford), B.J. Nobles (Western Carolina) and Matthew Milburn (Wofford).
Southern Conference May Athletes of the Month
Baseball – player Hagen Owenby, ETSU
Baseball – pitcher Will Gaddis, Furman
-www.SoConSports.com-