May 22, 2012

Five Golden Eagle baseball players earn all-OVC honors

The Tennessee Tech baseball team saw five players receive all-OVC honors, including Ben Burgess who was named all-OVC First Team, Zach Stephens, who was named all-OVC Second Team and a trio of players in Dylan Bosheers, Seth Lucio and David Hess who were named to the all-Freshman Team

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. --- The Tennessee Tech baseball team saw five players receive all-OVC honors, including Ben Burgess who was named all-OVC First Team, Zach Stephens, who was named all-OVC Second Team and a trio of players in Dylan Bosheers, Seth Lucio and David Hess who were named to the all-Freshman Team.

Southeast Missouri’s Trenton Moses was named the OVC Player of the Year, while Eastern Illinois’ Brant Valach was named the OVC Rookie of the Year. Eastern Kentucky’s Matt Fyffe was named the OVC Pitcher of the Year, while his coach Jason Stein was named the OVC Coach of the Year.

Burgess, a senior from Brentwood, Tenn., earned a first-team selection after finishing his season with six home runs and 29 RBIs, while batting .321. His .321 batting average led all catchers in the OVC. He finished his career at Tech second all-time in games played (210), and second all-time in hits (243).

“Ben has always been a steady presence in our lineup during the last four seasons,” head coach Matt Bragga said. “He helped us win two championships and he always seemed to hit in the middle of our lineup which speaks volumes about him.”

A native of Soddy-Daisy, Tenn., Stephens was named second-team after leading the Golden Eagles in several offensive categories including hits (75), runs (44), home runs (18) and RBIs (52). His 18 home runs ranked second in the OVC, while his 52 runs batted in placed him in fifth in the conference standings.

“For Zach to be in the category with those senior first basemen speaks shows a lot about him as a player,” Bragga said. “He started off the season hot and was able to sustain it for a long time. I’m anxious to see his junior and senior seasons.”

Bosheers, a freshman out of Lawrenceburg, Tenn., started in every game during his freshman campaign at second base. He finished his season batting .277, with 34 RBIs and four home runs, to go along with 36 runs scored and a total of 53 hits.

“Bosheers started every game for us as a freshman and was a in one of the top offensive lineups in the conference,” Bragga said. “He plays the game hard and we are excited about his future.”

Lucio, a freshman from Locust Grove, Ga., finished his freshman season with 3-2 record, while posting 60 strikeouts in 48.2 innings pitched. His most memorable performance of the season came on March 13, where he guided Tech to its first win on the road at Tennessee since 1990. Against the Volunteers, he threw 8.1 innings and struck out 11 batters in TTU’s 3-1 victory over Tennessee.

A native of Tullahoma, Tenn., Hess made 19 appearances on the mound for the Golden Eagles, including seven starts. He posted three wins in 61.2 innings pitched, while notching 51 strikeouts. He threw at least six innings in four games, including an eight-inning performance against Southeast Missouri where he struck out 10 batters.

“To be able to pitch all those innings was a huge thing for Hess and Lucio,” Bragga said. “They both showed that they had great arms and if they continue to improve should be a great nucleus for our team in the future.”

2012 All-Ohio Valley Conference Baseball Teams

(voted on by the leagues head coaches and sports information directors)

First Team

C – Ben Burgess, Tennessee Tech

1B – Ben Waldrip, Jacksonville State

2B – Jordan Hankins, Austin Peay

SS – Richie Rodriguez, Eastern Kentucky

3B – Trenton Moses, Southeast Missouri

OF – Jacob Daniel, Eastern Kentucky

OF – Kyle Bluestein, Jacksonville State

OF – Derek Gibson, Southeast Missouri

DH – Ben Thoma, Eastern Illinois