DALLAS – Two Southern Conference baseball players earned preseason All-America honors from the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association on Tuesday, with Western Carolina outfielder Bryson Bowman earning second-team honors and Samford designated hitter Austin Edens taking third-team distinction.
Dating back to 2005, Bryson is just the third Catamount baseball player to collect preseason All-America honors from the NCBWA – and the first since Aaron Attaway received third-team honors back in 2014.
Bowman was a third-team NCBWA All-America selection at the end of the 2016 season, while also tallying first-team ABCA/Rawlings All-Atlantic Region and second-team All-Southern Conference honors. The Baton, N.C., native was also dubbed second-team All-State by the North Carolina Collegiate Sports Information Association (NCCSIA).
Selected with the 998th overall pick, Bowman was a 33rd-round draft pick of the New York Yankees in last year’s MLB First-Year Player Draft but made the decision to return to Cullowhee, N.C., for his senior season. Bowman batted .326 (74-of-227) a season ago with 19 home runs – tied for third in the SoCon – 13 doubles and three triples. He drove in 60 runs while scoring 62 for the Catamounts.
The Catamounts open the 2017 season Feb. 17-19 in tournament action at defending national champion Coastal Carolina, playing two games at TicketReturn.com Field at Pelicans Park in Myrtle Beach, S.C. WCU opens its home slate at Childress Field / Hennon Stadium on Feb. 24-26 against Marshall.
Samford’s Edens, who has been one of the nation’s leaders in home runs since the day he stepped on campus in 2014, powered 19 round-trippers last season and finished eighth in the country in the category. He also added a .311 batting average, 59 RBIs and 43 runs scored.
A first-team All-Southern Conference performer from a year ago, Edens was named a second-team All-American by the NCBWA as a sophomore. He also garnered first-team South Central Region honors from ABCA/Rawlings.
The Samford University baseball team has begun its full-fledged practice for the upcoming season and will open play in its 2017 campaign Friday, Feb. 17, at 4 p.m. (CST) against the UNC Asheville Bulldogs at Joe Lee Griffin Field.