CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Western Carolina redshirt senior outfielder Bryson Bowman received third-team All-America plaudits from Collegiate Baseball on Thursday. The Southern Conference's Player of the Year and a first-team All-Southern Conference selection, Bowman earned postseason All-America honors for a second consecutive season.
The staff of Collegiate Baseball newspaper announced three teams chosen by performances up to the NCAA regional playoffs.
Bowman was one of two Southern Conference players selected to the All-America team by Collegiate Baseball newspaper. SoCon Pitcher of the Year JP Sears from The Citadel garnered second-team All-America honors. Six individuals named between the three teams were on opposing teams WCU faced during the 2017 season.
All told, Bowman is the eighth different Catamount since 1992 to claim Collegiate Baseball All-America plaudits – and the first since Bradley Strong earned second-team honors in 2014. It is the second straight season Bowman has collected postseason honors, as he earned a third-team nod from the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) a season ago.
A product of Baton, N.C., Bowman finished the year claiming WCU's Triple Crown, pacing the team in batting average (.381), RBIs (59) and home runs (11), collecting co-SoCon Player of the Year accolades from the league's head coaches and outright top player honors from the voting members of the media. He is the 16th different Catamount to earn the squad's Triple Crown.
Entering NCAA regional play, Bowman ranked third in the SoCon with a .381 batting average, led the league with a .470 on-base percentage and was in fifth in slugging percentage at .619. He drove in a team-best 59 runs to rank second in the conference, while delivering a school single-season record-tying – and conference leading – eight sacrifice flies. Bowman additionally led the SoCon in batting average in league-only games, hitting .433 against conference foes while also ranking second in on-base percentage at .491 in league play.
Combined, Bowman ranked inside the SoCon's top 10 in 10 statistical categories at season's end and was ranked in seven of the SoCon-only categories, as well.
During the 2017 season, Bowman reached base safely in the first 42 games consecutively before closing the year with a second double-digit streak of 13 straight. All told, the slugger reached base safely in 55 of WCU's 56 games, collecting hits in 49 of those contests, including 23 multi-hit games to rank second on the team while also hitting for the cycle in a home victory over Savannah State. Bowman additionally matched a school record with a career-long 27-game hitting streak at midseason.
In the field, Bowman posted a perfect fielding percentage with 106 putouts, adding six outfield assists.
A 33rd-round draft pick in the 2016 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft, Bowman and other draft-eligible Catamounts turn their attention to this year's draft slated to begin on Monday, June 12.