One season removed from a fifth Great American Conference Baseball Tournament championship and a postseason run to the final of the NCAA Central Regional, Southern Arkansas will open 2019 as the GAC’s preseason favorite, the conference office announced on Tuesday.
The Muleriders scored seven of the 12 first-place votes from the league’s head coaches. They must replace All-American Jacob Richardson, GAC Pitcher of the Year Hunter Vasquez and a pair of MLB Draft picks – Nick Starr and Eric White. Dakota Wright will lead the offense after he hit .308 and ranked second in the GAC with 13 home runs and 62 RBI. Austin Baker took home MVP honors at the GAC Championships after he hit .522 with 12 hits over the five games.
Oklahoma Baptist, fresh off of the program’s first appearance in the NCAA Regional, received three first-place votes and placed second in the poll. The Bison return All-Region performer Jake Gozzo and Second-Team All-GAC pitcher Caleb Bly. Gozzo hit .341 with 12 home runs and 46 RBI. Bly struck out 97 batters, the second most among all Division II freshmen, and limited the opposition to a .201 average, the second lowest mark in the GAC.
Arkansas-Monticello - the 2018 GAC regular-season champions - picked up the remaining two first-place votes to take third in the balloting. The Weevils feature 2018 GAC Freshman of the Year Jordan Johnson. He posted a .322 average with 11 home runs and 49 RBI.
Arkansas Tech finished fourth, followed closely by Henderson State. Riley Hickerson, an All-GAC Second-Team outfielder and Hayes Cox, an Honorable Mention All-GAC starting pitcher as a freshman will lead the Wonder Boys. Hickerson ranked second in triples and seventh in stolen bases. Cox went 9-3 with a 3.63 ERA and five complete games.
The Reddies feature a pair of 2018 All-GAC pitchers in All-American closer Taylor Langston and All-GAC Second-Team starter Zach Eschberger. Langston saved nine games and posted a 1.63 ERA with 31 strikeouts in 27.2 innings pitched. Eschberger won seven games and held opponents to a .232 average. Caleb Carr returns for his sophomore season after he led the GAC with a .477 on-base percentage to go along with a .376 average.
Southwestern Oklahoma State took sixth with Harding in seventh. The Bulldogs return their double-play combination of Alex Pimentel and Brady Burtner. Pimentel, an All-American and the GAC Newcomer of the Year, hit a GAC-leading .411 with nine home runs and 54 RBI. He ranked in the top five in six offensive categories. Burtner added a .356 average. Harding returns a pair of 2018 Honorable Mention picks in outfielder Nolan Fertig and staring pitcher Tanner Smith. Smith won eight games and posted the third-best ERA in the league, 3.62
Southeastern Oklahoma State finished in eighth, followed by Northwestern Oklahoma State. In Zach Crabtree’s first season, Austin Ferguson hit .380 with a .469 on-base percentage to pace the Savage Storm offense. The Rangers’ Johnnuelle Ponce hit .307 with eight home runs to land on the All-GAC Honorable Mention team.
Ouachita, Southern Nazarene and East Central rounded out the poll. Ouachita and ECU feature first-year head coaches as Luke Howard takes over in Arkadelphia and Lloyd Gage takes the reigns in Ada.
The regular season begins on Friday, February 1 with 11 of the 12 schools playing on the opening weekend. Southeastern Oklahoma State and Southwestern Oklahoma State head to the Edmond First Pitch Classic. Arkansas Tech travels to the Houston Winter Invitational while Henderson State and Ouachita each face Union along with a stand-alone contest between the two rivals.