| Members: Appalachian State, Arkansas-Little Rock, Arkansas State, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana-Monroe, South Alabama, Texas-Arlington, Texas State, Troy. |
| Team to Beat: Louisiana-Lafayette: The Ragin’ Cajuns have reached super regionals in back-to-back years and return 20 letterwinners from last year’s team. To that core, Lafayette this fall added its first-ever Top 25 recruiting class. The newcomers will have to fill a few holes, including that left by star shortstop Blake Trahan, the 2015 Sun Belt player of the year and a third-round pick. Seniors Kyle Clement and Stefan Trosclair give coach Tony Robichaux veteran hitters around which to build a lineup. With starters Gunner Leger and Wyatt Marks and closer Dylan Moore back for their sophomore years to lead the pitching staff after gaining a wealth experience last season, the Cajuns should be formidable once again. |
| Top 25 Teams: (13) Louisiana-Lafayette. |
| Player of the Year: Stefan Trosclair, inf, Louisiana-Lafayette. In his first year after transferring from Louisiana State-Eunice JC, Trosclair led the Sun Belt in home runs (16), runs (55), RBIs (53) and slugging percentage (.631). He has an advanced approach at the plate to go with his power, and enough speed to be a threat on the base paths (15 stolen bases last season). With Trahan gone, it will be up to Trosclair to anchor the Cajuns’ lineup. |
| Pitcher of the Year: Kevin Hill, rhp, South Alabama. The 2015 Sun Belt pitcher of the year returns for one final year of college after going 10-0, 1.73 with 107 strikeouts in 94 innings last season. Hill has a good feel for pitching and pounds the strike zone, making the Jaguars hard to beat on Friday nights. |
| Freshman of the Year: Nick Lee, rhp, Louisiana-Lafayette. The headliner of Lafayette’s 20th-ranked recruiting class, Lee could immediately take over a spot in the weekend rotation. He has plenty of projection left, but already runs his fastball up to 94 mph and mixes in a quality breaking ball and changeup. |
| Notable Storylines: South Alabama won the regular-season Sun Belt championship last year, finishing a game ahead of second-place Troy. But the Jaguars lost to the Cajuns, 5-1, in 12 innings in the conference tournament championship game, falling just short of returning to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2013. With Hill at the front of the rotation and center fielder Cole Billingsley (.345/.437/.444 with 30 stolen bases last year) leading the offense, the Jaguars are again set up to contend for a championship … Bobby Pierce, Troy’s all-time winningest coach with 450 career victories in 13 seasons, retired following the 2015 season. Mark Smartt, an assistant coach throughout Pierce’s tenure, was promoted to head coach of his alma mater. The Trojans bring back four everyday players and seven pitchers from last year’s team. They also added a key recruit in catcher Chase Smartt, Mark’s son, who was drafted in the 35th round last year by the Braves … Texas State will host the Sun Belt tournament this year and is looking for its first championship since winning the Southland Conference in 2011. The Bobcats joined the Sun Belt last season. Coach Ty Harrington’s group is led by senior catcher Tanner Hill (.319/.379/.511 with nine home runs) and senior righthander Lucas Humpal (5-7, 5.28), who returned to school after being drafted in the 37th round by the Indians last year. |
| Tournament: Eight teams, double-elimination, May 25-29 at Bobcat Baseball Stadium in San Marcos, Texas. |
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