Four Golden Eagles earn post-season honors from OVC
Chad Oberacker is an all-OVC first-team selection for the second time, Cassanova Donaldson is a second-team pick, and Zach Stephens and Garrett Baugh were named to the All-Freshman squad Tuesday night at the OVC Tournament.
Fourth-seeded Tech faces EKU Wednesday at 11
a.m.
JACKSON, Tenn. – Behind a fourth-place finish in the Ohio
Valley Conference standings, the Tennessee Tech baseball team
received a quartet of individual awards Tuesday night at the annual
Awards Dinner on the eve of the 2011 OVC Baseball Tournament in
Jackson, Tenn.
Senior Chad
Oberacker was named all-OVC first team, senior Casanova
Donaldson earned all-OVC second team, and a pair of freshmen in
Garrett
Baugh and Zach Stephens were
named to the OVC all-freshman team.
An versatile player out of Erie, Pa., this is Oberacker's second all-OVC first team nod in as many seasons, and first as the league's top utility player. He split his time playing in centerfield and pitching.
At the plate, Oberacker posted a solid .323 average, and tied for the team-lead in home runs and RBI with 10 and 48, respectively. On the mound, he recorded a pair of wins in 13 appearances, striking out 47 batters, in 46.1 innings pitched.
An outfielder out of Nashville, Donaldson is the first Golden Eagle to be named to the all-OVC second team since Lee Henry and A.J. Kirby Jones received the honor in the 2009 season.
Donaldson started in all of Tech's 51 games this season and posted
a team-leading .327 batting average. He also led the team in runs
scored with 42 and drove in 35 runs of his own. In the field, he
was nearly flawless, committing just one error while recording 105
putouts and making four assists.
Baugh and Stephens round out Tech's regular season OVC honors, becoming the seventh and eighth players named to the OVC all-freshman team since its inception in 2006. To date, at least one Golden Eagle has been named to the OVC all-freshman team in every season it has been selected.
A right handed pitcher out of Ooltewah, Tenn., Baugh made one start and 16 relief appearances during his freshman campaign, posting a 4.05 ERA, while striking out 18 batters.
A solid presence at first base, Stephens was among the team-leaders in several offensive categories. Stephens, along with Oberacker, led the team in home runs and RBI with 10 and 48, respectively. He also led the team in slugging percentage with a .559 mark.
The Golden Eagles open the OVC Tournament Wednesday, against Eastern Kentucky. The first pitch is set for 11 a.m.
Fans who cannot attend the games can listen to the broadcasts via Teamline on the Internet or telephone by dialing 1-800-846-4700 (code 0654), or listen to the broadcast locally on Cookeville Country 1600 AM.
Fans can also follow livestats and the webstream provided by the OVC at the links listed below:
