Seven members of the Southwestern University Pirates baseball team were named to the All-SCAC teams, led by sophomore Austin Smith winning the conference Pitcher of the Year.
Smith, a sophomore right‐hander from Cedar Park, Texas, finished the regular season with seven wins (tied for second in the SCAC), a 3.14 earned run average (fourth in the SCAC) and led the league in strikeouts (100), complete games (five), shutouts (two) and strikeouts per nine innings (12.56).
Fifth in the nation in strikeouts, he is already one of just 13 pitchers in league history to hit the 100‐strikeout milestone for a single season and his strikeouts per nine innings ratio is on pace to be the fourth‐highest in league history. A three‐time SCAC Pitcher‐of‐the‐Week, Smith was the fourth Pirate to earn SCAC Pitcher‐of‐the‐Year honors and the first since
Forrest Martin in 2000.
Smith received five votes in the SCAC Pitcher‐of‐the‐Year balloting while sophomore right‐hander Corey Cater of Trinity received the remaining two first‐place votes.
senior shortstop Brett Taff of Austin College all received one vote each.
Smith was joined on the All-SCAC First Team by teammates Daniel Montgomery Jr. (third base) and Byron Dowdell II.
Montgomery tied Dowdell for the conference lead in home runs with nine each. He also led the conference in runs (46), triples (four), and total bases (105) while finishing second in hits (56), RBI (45) and slugging percentage (.665), third in on-base percentage (.477), and fourth in batting average (.354).
Dowdell finished the regular season first in the conference in RBI with 46, was third in total bases (92), and sixth in hits (53) and slugging percentage (.558).
First baseman Cole Kelly, second baseman Seth Sparks, outfielder Hayden Craig, and pitcher Colton Hunter were named Second Team All-SCAC.
Kelly led the SCAC in doubles (17) while hitting .303 on the season with 34 RBI and 33 runs scored with six home runs.
Sparks was third in the SCAC with 55 hits, batting .346 with 26 RBI and 24 runs.
Craig finished the regular season third in the SCAC in runs scored with 42, hitting .286 with 17 RBI and 12 stolen bases.
Hunter finished second in the SCAC in strikeouts per game (10.19) and complete games (four), and third in strikeouts (83) and innings pitched (73.1). He finished the regular season 6-2 with a 3.80 ERA.
Colby Schmidt and Chase Thinger received honorable mention. The Pirates finished the regular season 23-17, including 10-7 in conference play.