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College  | Story | 2/1/2017

Conference Preview: SoCon

Photo: Mercer Athletics




Preseason College Top 25 | Preseason All-American Team | 2017 College Baseball Preview Index

For all of Perfect Game's conference previews as part of the 2017 college baseball preview content, the predicted order of finish and all-conference teams are available for free. The conference top prospects and individual team breakdowns can be viewed with a College Baseball Ticket (CBT) subscription. To learn more about the College Baseball Ticket and to sign up today please visit this link.


Predicted Order of Finish


Overall/conference win-loss records from 2016 indicated | * Denotes projected conference automatic bid


No. Team W L W L
1 Mercer* 38 23 16 8
2 UNC Greensboro 38 21 15 9
3 Furman
29 31 14 10
4 Western Carolina  31 31 15 9
5 Samford 35 26 13 11
6 East Tennessee State 27 30 13 11
7 Wofford 30 28 12 12
8 VMI
21 35 4 20
9 The Citadel 17 42 6 18


Preseason All-Conference Team

Pos. Name Class School Stats/Notes
C Hagen Owenby Jr. East Tennessee St. .374-17-60; tremendous power bat
1B Austin Edens Jr. Samford .311-19-59; power to all fields, advanced hitter
MIF Matt Meeder Sr. Mercer .278-3-27; + defender up the middle, patient approach
MIF Ben Spitznagel Sr. UNC Greensboro .385-1-23; 21 SB, athletic infielder, gap-to-gap hitter
3B Blake Rowlett Sr. East Tennessee St. .311-8-43; versatile defender, barrel ability
OF Trey Truitt Jr. Mercer .340-14-56; big league tools, good speed, power
OF Matt Smith Sr. Western Carolina .388-10-55; took big jump as JR
OF Jabari Richards So. Furman .343-10-25; strong FR season, high-level athlete
DH Bryson Bowman Sr. Western Carolina .326-19-60; 10 SB, middle-of-order bat with loud tools
UT Jake Crawford So. Furman .308-1-31; will play 3B and work as closer with good CB
SP Will Gaddis  Jr. Furman 3.45, 101.2 IP, 92:20; up to 96, dominant on Cape
SP Ryan Askew Sr. Mercer 3.88, 101.2 IP, 65:18; returning Friday night starter
SP J.P. Sears Sr. The Citadel 5.27, 82 IP, 93:36; deceptive LHP
SP Josh Winder  So. VMI 4.80, 86.1 IP, 76:16; low-90s FB with 3-pitch mix
RP Andrew Wantz Jr. UNC Greensboro 2.97, 78.1 IP, 97:37, 4 SV; mid-90s fastball, feel for CH

Player of the Year: Trey Truitt, of, Mercer

Pitcher of the Year: Will Gaddis, rhp, Furman

Freshman of the Year: Branden Fryman, ss, Samford



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