SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Southern Conference announced the 2023 baseball all-conference teams and individual honors on Tuesday, which were voted on by the league’s eight head coaches and the SoCon Sports Media Association (SCSMA). Regular-season SoCon champion Samford claimed three of the four individual superlatives selected by both groups.
 
Samford right-hander Jacob Cravey was named the SoCon Pitcher of the Year by both the coaches and media, while Tony David earned Coach of the Year honors from both. Bulldog outfielder Lucas Steele was the coaches’ choice for SoCon Freshman of the Year, while the media selected Samford second baseman Jayden Davis.
 
Wofford first baseman Ryan Galanie was both groups’ choice for SoCon Player of the Year.
 
Samford’s Cravey leads the SoCon in several categories, including innings pitched (90 1/3), batters struck out (114) and batters struck out looking (44). His nine wins and 3.39 ERA rank second in the league, with his ERA tops among starters, while he also ranks second in the SoCon in complete games (three) and third in opposing batting average (.213) and WHIP (1.15). The junior from Andalusia, Alabama, who enters postseason play with a 9-2 record over 14 starts, has allowed 70 hits on the season, just 19 of which went for extra bases. Cravey struck out at least 10 batters in four starts this season, highlighted by a career-high 13 in a seven-inning complete-game effort against UT Martin on March 18. His other three double-digit efforts came in SoCon play, as he fanned 10 against The Citadel and Wofford and 12 against Western Carolina, all in winning efforts. Last week, Cravey, whose strikeout total ranks fourth in NCAA Division I this season, was named one of 25 semifinalists for the College Baseball Foundation’s National Pitcher of the Year award. Cravey becomes Samford’s first Pitcher of the Year selection by the coaches and the second by the media and first since Zach Hester in 2019.
 
In just his second year at the helm, David led Samford to its second SoCon regular-season title and first since 2019 with a 32-22 overall mark and a 15-6 league record. The Bulldogs dropped just one league series all season and enter the postseason having won 10 of their last 13 games overall. With Samford trailing Mercer by one game entering the final series of the regular season, David and his squad handed the Bears their first SoCon sweep of the season, vaulting past Mercer to win the SoCon regular-season title outright and claim the No. 1 seed in this week’s SoCon Baseball Championship presented by Holston Gases. In addition to coaching the SoCon Player of the Year and two Freshmen of the Year, David saw his squad claim four All-SoCon honors from the coaches and three from the media, with Cravey and Davis earning first-team honors from both organizations and designated hitter John Anderson claiming first-team honors from the media and second-team distinction from the coaches. Reliever Ben Petschke was a second-team pick by the coaches. David is Samford’s second Coach of the Year selection and first since Casey Dunn took the honor from both the coaches and media in 2019.
 
Samford’s Steele is third on the squad with a .313 batting average and second on the team and seventh in the SoCon with a slugging percentage of .659. The first-year player from Hoover, Alabama, is seventh in the league with 15 home runs on the season, while he’s tied for second in sacrifice flies with six. Overall, Steele has produced 47 RBIs on the season to rank second on the team, knocking in multiple runs in 10 games this season and recording multiple hits 14 times. The outfielder has committed just one error in 52 chances for a .981 fielding percentage and picked up three outfield assists. Steele, who drove in a season-best six runs in the series opener against ETSU on the strength of his first career grand slam, capped his regular season with his first career four-hit game, going 4-for-5 with two home runs, four RBIs and three runs scored as the Bulldogs downed Mercer 14-8 to clinch the SoCon regular-season title outright. He also had a two-homer game against Alabama State on March 1, hitting a three-run shot and a solo blast. Steele is Samford’s third Freshman of the Year pick by the coaches and first since Heath Quinn (2014) and Austin Edens (2015) won in consecutive years.
 
Samford’s Davis leads all SoCon freshmen and ranks eighth in the league overall with a .372 batting average this season. The rookie from Cookeville, Tennessee, who earned first-team All-SoCon honors at second base in addition to being named the Freshman of the Year by the media and All-Freshman by the coaches, brings a school-record 37-game hitting streak into the postseason. After starting the season at designated hitter and batting .250 through the first 15 games of his collegiate career, Davis made the move to second base and hasn’t gone hitless since, raising his batting average 122 points in the ensuing 37 games. He’s turned in 23 multiple-hit games this season and has totaled 12 doubles, a triple, nine home runs and 35 RBIs on the year. His batting average and on-base percentage (.473) lead the Bulldogs, with the latter mark ranking sixth in the SoCon. His slugging percentage of .582 ranks third on the Samford squad, while his 35 walks drawn are tied for fifth in the league. Davis is Samford’s fifth SoCon Freshman of the Year pick by the media and first since Sonny DiChiara in 2019.
 
Wofford’s Galanie, the only SoCon player batting over .400, paces the league in several offensive categories, including batting average (.408), on-base percentage (.510), runs scored (70), hits (86), RBIs (64) and total bases (149). The senior from Mason, Ohio, is also second in the league in slugging percentage (.706), fifth in home runs (16) and walks (35) and eighth in stolen bases (18). In the field, Galanie leads the SoCon in total chances (466) and putouts (444). Galanie earned SoCon Player of the Week honors on Feb. 20 and March 13 and claimed SoCon Player of the Month honors in both February and March. On Friday, Galanie, who has 29 multiple-hit games and 17 multi-RBI games this season, was named one of 60 national semifinalists for the Dick Howser Trophy, given annually to the top player in college baseball. Galanie is Wofford’s second player in three seasons to earn Player of the Year honors from the coaches (Colin Davis, 2021) and the third straight to claim them from the media (Colin Davis, 2021; Lawson Hill, 2022).
 
The coaches’ and media’s all-conference first teams match at each position except for designated hitter, with Mercer’s Eric Toth earning the nod from the coaches and Samford’s Anderson taking the honor from the media.
 
VMI leads all SoCon programs with six total all-conference selections by the coaches, including a league-best three on the first team in catcher Cole Garrett, third baseman Justin Starke and outfielder Cole Jenkins.
 
All eight SoCon squads claimed at least one all-conference pick from each organization and every team had at least one All-Freshman Team pick, led by Wofford’s three selections.
 
Mercer and Wofford pace the SoCon with five All-SoCon selections each from the media, including the Bears’ league-leading four second-team selections. Samford and VMI share league-high honors with three first-team picks apiece.
 
The SoCon Baseball Championship presented by Holston Gases will take place from Wednesday to Sunday at Fluor Field in Greenville, South Carolina. All eight league teams will be vying for the tournament title and the SoCon’s automatic bid to the NCAA Regionals. No. 6 seed UNCG is the defending tournament champion, while top-seeded Samford is seeking its second title in three years.
 
2023 Coaches All-Southern Conference Teams
 
Player of the Year – Ryan Galanie, Sr., 1B, Wofford
Pitcher of the Year – Jacob Cravey, Jr., RHP, Samford
Freshman of the Year – Lucas Steele, OF, Samford
Coach of the Year – Tony David, Samford
 
First team
SP – Nathanial Tate, Sr., ETSU
SP – Jacob Cravey, Jr., Samford
RP – Lucas Mahlstedt, So., Wofford
C – Cole Garrett, Jr., VMI
1B – Ryan Galanie, Sr., Wofford
2B – Jayden Davis, Fr., Samford
SS – Pascanel Ferreras, Jr., Western Carolina
3B – Justin Starke, R-Jr., VMI
OF – Treyson Hughes, So., Mercer
OF – Kennedy Jones, So., UNCG
OF – Cole Jenkins, Jr., VMI
DH – Eric Toth, Gr., Mercer
 
Second team
SP – Cameron Reeves, Sr., The Citadel
SP – Matthew Marchal, Sr., Wofford
RP – Ben Petschke, Jr., Samford
C – Cameron Gill, Sr., Wofford
1B – Cameron Sisneros, Jr., ETSU
2B – Ty Swaim, Jr., VMI
SS – Zac Morris, R-Jr., VMI
3B – Dixon Black, Jr., Wofford
OF – Nick Iannantone, Jr., ETSU
OF – Jozsef Rohrbacher, Sr., Mercer
OF – Trey Morgan, R-Jr., VMI
DH – John Anderson, Jr., Samford
 
All-Freshman Team
Will Holmes, The Citadel
Cody Miller, ETSU
Ty Dalley, Mercer
Julien Peissel, UNCG
Luke Thomas, UNCG
Jayden Davis, Samford
Lucas Steele, Samford
Grayson Fitzwater, VMI
Jimmy Koza, VMI
Ryan White, Western Carolina
Zac Cowan, Wofford
Branton Little, Wofford
Charlie Weber, Wofford
 
 
2023 SCSMA All-Southern Conference Teams
 
Player of the Year – Ryan Galanie, Sr., 1B, Wofford
Pitcher of the Year – Jacob Cravey, Jr., RHP, Samford
Freshman of the Year – Jayden Davis, 2B, Samford
Coach of the Year – Tony David, Samford
 
First team
SP – Nathanial Tate, Sr., ETSU
SP – Jacob Cravey, Jr., Samford
RP – Lucas Mahlstedt, So., Wofford
C – Cole Garrett, Jr., VMI
1B – Ryan Galanie, Sr., Wofford
2B – Jayden Davis, Fr., Samford
SS – Pascanel Ferreras, Jr., Western Carolina
3B – Justin Starke, R-Jr., VMI
OF – Treyson Hughes, So., Mercer
OF – Kennedy Jones, So., UNCG
OF – Cole Jenkins, Jr., VMI
DH – John Anderson, Jr., Samford
 
Second team
SP – Cameron Reeves, Sr., The Citadel
SP – Josh Farmer, Sr., Mercer
SP – Coulson Buchanan, So., Wofford
RP – Cade Carlson, Jr., ETSU
C – Cameron Gill, Sr., Wofford
1B – Cameron Sisneros, Jr., ETSU
2B – Ty Swaim, Jr., VMI
SS – Sawyer Reeves, So., The Citadel
3B – Dixon Black, Jr., Wofford
OF – Nick Iannantone, Jr., ETSU
OF – Jackson Cherry, So., Mercer
OF – Jozsef Rohrbacher, Sr., Mercer
DH – Eric Toth, Gr., Mercer