TUCSON, Ariz. – Three Southern Conference rookies earned spots on the Collegiate Baseball Freshmen All-American team, powered by Diamond Sports, as announced by Collegiate Baseball on Wednesday.
 
Mercer first baseman Ty Dalley, Samford second baseman Jayden Davis and Samford outfielder Lucas Steele earned spots on the squad. Davis and Steele helped the Bulldogs to SoCon regular-season and tournament titles, while Dalley helped the Bears to a runner-up regular-season SoCon finish.
 
The Bears’ Dalley hit 18 home runs, tops among all SoCon freshmen and fourth in the league overall. The Vidalia, Georgia, native also hit 10 doubles and drove in a team-best 56 runs, also fourth in the SoCon and the most among league freshmen. He hit .259 on the year and had a .366 on-base percentage and a .598 slugging percentage. He earned All-Tournament honors at the SoCon Baseball Championship presented by Holston Gases after driving in six runs for Mercer in its three games. Dalley also committed just two errors on the year in 418 chances for a .995 fielding percentage.
 
Samford’s Davis led all SoCon freshmen and ranked eighth overall in the league with a .358 batting average. The rookie from Cookeville, Tennessee, turned in a SoCon- and program-record 37-game hitting streak this season en route to being named the SoCon Freshman of the Year by the league’s media and earning first-team All-SoCon honors from both the media and the coaches. Davis hit 13 doubles, a triple and nine home runs, scoring 48 runs, driving in 38 and putting up a .452 on-base percentage and a .541 slugging percentage.
 
Samford’s Steele was named the SoCon Freshman of the Year by the league’s coaches this season. The Hoover, Alabama, native finished fifth in the SoCon and tops among all league freshmen with a .635 slugging percentage this season after hitting 15 doubles, a triple and 16 home runs, the last of which tied for sixth in the SoCon and was second among league freshmen. Steele hit .315 and drove in 51 runs on the year. He also drew 27 walks and posted an on-base percentage of .404, scoring 43 runs on the season. Steele was named to the NCAA Auburn Regional All-Tournament Team after hitting .333 with an RBI and posting a .538 on-base percentage on the strength of two walks and two HBPs.