| Baseball Members: The Citadel, East Tennessee State, Furman, Mercer, Samford, UNC Greensboro, Virginia Military Institute, Western Carolina, Wofford. |
| Team to Beat: Mercer. The Bears won both the conference regular-season and tournament titles last season, returning to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in six years. Led by Preseason All-American Kyle Lewis, Mercer is poised for run. The Bears will be solid up the middle, with Lewis back in center field and catcher Charlie Madden (.272/.359/.485, nine home runs) and shortstop Matt Meeder (.293/.464/.399) returning for their junior seasons as well. Mercer will be younger on the mound after losing several pitchers, including Friday starter Eric Nyquist and relief ace Morgan Pittman. Coach Craig Gibson believes his young pitchers are ready to take on larger roles, but freshmen such as Conard Broom, Kevin Coulter and Andrew Kane will have to quickly adapt to the college game. |
| Player of the Year: Kyle Lewis, of, Mercer. Lewis won SoCon player of the year honors last year after hitting .367/.423/.677 with 17 home runs. He continued to rake during the summer in the Cape Cod League, establishing himself as one of the best college position players in the country. Expectations will be high for Lewis, but he has the all-around skillset to rise to the occasion this spring. |
| Pitcher of the Year: Matt Milburn, rhp, Wofford. One of just two pitchers in the conference to throw more than 100 innings last year, Milburn went 10-3, 4.32 to lead the league in victories. The senior has been a consistent performer throughout his career and will lead the Terriers rotation this season. |
| Freshman of the Year: Connor Radcliff, rhp, Samford. A part of Pelham (Ala.) High’s state runner-up team last year, Radcliff will immediately step into Samford’s rotation this spring. The 6-foot-2 righty throws his fastball in the low 90s and mixes in two quality offspeed pitches. |
| Notable Storylines: Samford had one of the most dynamic offenses in the country last year, leading the country in home runs (85) and ranking in the top 10 in average (.304), hits (636), and slugging percentage (.498). The Bulldogs offense returns almost completely intact and will be dangerous once again. Junior outfielder Heath Quinn (.340/.418/.580, 14 home runs) has a chance to be picked in the first few rounds this June, and first baseman Austin Edens (.357/.442/.662, 16 home runs) was named a Freshman All-American last season. Samford made it to the finals of the conference tournament last year and could be in line for a similar finish this season if coach Casey Dunn can find some pitchers to replace closer Andres Garcia and Friday starter Alex Ledford . . . Wofford set a school record with 39 victories last season and has posted back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 1991-92. The Terriers return 28 lettermen from last year, led by Milburn and senior closer Will Stillman (1-1, 4.60, 15 saves). They will have to make up for the loss their two leading hitters, DH Matthew Ramsey (.359/.459/.483), who transferred to Michigan as a graduate student, and outfielder James Plaisted (.346/.434/.557). Coach Todd Interdonato still has a veteran team and the makings for another solid season … Despite going 28-30 and finishing eighth in the Southern Conference, Citadel had a league-high three players drafted last year, including pitcher of the year James Reeves. The Bulldogs will be looking to bounce back this season, led by first baseman Drew Ellis. He hit .229/.345/.484 with 12 home runs, becoming the first Citadel freshman to hit at least 10 home runs since Richard Jones homered 15 times in 2007. |
| Tournament: Nine teams, May 24-29 at Fluor Field in Greenville, S.C. |
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