BU's Higgins Voted @ASUNBSB Player of the Year as Postseason Honors Are Announced
BU's Higgins Voted @ASUNBSB Player of the Year as Postseason Honors Are Announced
2022 ASUN Conference Baseball Postseason Honors & Awards
ATLANTA, Ga. – The 2022 ASUN Conference Baseball Postseason Honors and Awards, voted on by the league's 12 head coaches, were announced Tuesday by the league office. Bellarmine's Matt Higgins headlined the superlative awards as the ASUN Player of the Year. He was joined by Defensive Player of the Year Caleb Ketchup of Lipscomb, Pitcher of the Year Tyler Cleveland of Central Arkansas and Kennesaw State's Donovan Cash as the Freshman of the Year. The Bisons' Head Coach Jeff Forehand rounded out the accolades by being named ASUN Coach of the Year.
Higgins is the first Knight in school history to bring home a superlative award in Baseball with the Player of the Year honor. A two-time ASUN Player of the Week winner during the 2022 campaign, Higgins broke the program's single-season and all-time home run records along with setting a new career-high for RBIs. His 22 homers this season are tops in the ASUN and seventh in the nation. The outfielder also leads the league in slugging percentage by nearly 100 points (.770) and is third in the conference in RBIs with 61. Additionally, he homered in both games against No. 1 Tennessee and collected 15 stolen bases.
Ketchup is the third Defensive Player of the Year for Lipscomb in program history and the first since Michael Gigliotti in 2017. The redshirt freshman shortstop covered a lot of dirt in the infield as he collected 155 assists which were the third most in the ASUN. He also accounted for 69 putouts while fielding at a .933 clip. The Atlanta native was a part of 22 double plays as well. At the plate for the season, Ketchup is batting .290 heading into the ASUN Championship with 56 hits, 13 doubles, five home runs, 23 RBIs and 26 walks to go with 46 runs scored.
Cleveland, a two-time ASUN Pitcher of the Week in 2022, finished the season with a 7-2 record, all of which came in ASUN play. His win total was tied atop the league and he owned the third-best ASUN earned run average of 2.93 (2.57 in ASUN play). He is the first player in UCA history to bring home the Pitcher of the Year accolade and did so while earning the distinction of being the only pitcher to earn 100-plus Ks in the regular season at 101. The East End, Ark., native walked just 16 batters in 95.1 innings pitched while striking out at least eight hitters seven times and allowing a .235 opponent batting average.
Cash is the first Owl in history to receive the Freshman of the Year nod after leading the team in multi-hit games (28), multi-RBI games (17) and ending the season with a 24-game on-base streak. The infielder is sixth in batting average (.367), fourth in hits (81), fifth in doubles (19) and tied for seventh in RBIs with 54. The Sharpsburg, Ga., native also accumulated an on-base percentage of .416 in his first year on the field. Cash's play also helped lead KSU to an East Division title and the three seed in the ASUN Championship in Head Coach Ryan Coe's first season.
Forehand secured the first ASUN Coach of the Year honor in both his career and in the history of Lipscomb Baseball after helping guide the Bisons to a 34-20 record (20-10 ASUN) and a West Division title in 2022. He will be back in the dugout this week as the club is the No. 2 seed in the ASUN Championship that begins Tuesday. Forehand has a trio of players on the All-Conference list this year as both Michael Dunkelberger (starting pitcher) and Malik Williams (first base) were chosen as Second Team All-Conference selections. Forehand earned the 600th win of his career earlier this season on Feb. 19 when the Bisons defeated Akron, 12-4, on Ken Dugan Field in the Music City.
Player of the Year: Matt Higgins, Bellarmine
Defensive Player of the Year: Caleb Ketchup, Lipscomb
Pitcher of the Year: Tyler Cleveland, Central Arkansas
Freshman of the Year: Donovan Cash, Kennesaw State
Coach of the Year: Jeff Forehand, Lipscomb
ASUN First Team All-Conference
SP - Tyler Cleveland, Central Arkansas (So. | East End, Ark. | Physical Education)
SP - Joe Adametz III, Liberty (Jr. | Mohnton, Pa. | Mechanical Engineering)
SP - Isaiah Magwood, Jacksonville State (Jr. | Hazel Green, Ala. | Finance)
RP - Will Brian, Eastern Kentucky (Jr. | Brandenburg, Ky. | Accounting)
C - Will King, Eastern Kentucky (So. | New York, N.Y. | Undecided)
1B - Joe Kinker#, FGCU (Jr. | North Port, Fla. | Secondary Social Science Education)
2B - Cole Frederick, Jacksonville State (Sr. | Tuscaloosa, Ala. | Sports Management)
3B - Alejandro Figueredo, FGCU (Jr. | Sucre, Venezuela | Integrated Studies)
SS - Isaiah Byars, North Florida (Sr. | Stone Mountain, Ga. | Health Science)
OF - Matt Higgins#, Bellarmine (Sr. | Louisville, Ky. | Communication)
OF - Kendal Ewell, Eastern Kentucky (So. | Calumet City, Ill. | Broadcasting & Electronic Media)
OF - Josh Hatcher, Kennesaw State (Sr. | Albany, Ga. | Marketing)
DH - Brady Gulakowski#, Liberty (Sr. | Pittsburgh, Pa. | Sport Management)
ASUN Second Team All-Conference
SP - Garrett Horn, Liberty (Fr. | Kernersville, N.C. | Sports Psychology)
SP - Michael Dunkelberger, Lipscomb (So. | South Bend, Ind. | Business)
SP - Peter Holden, North Florida (Jr. | Vero Beach, Fla. | Interdisciplinary Studies)
RP - Mason Fluharty, Liberty (So. | Milton, Del. | Interdisciplinary Studies)
C - Gray Betts#, Liberty (Jr. | Raleigh, N.C. | Accounting)
1B - Donovan Cash, Kennesaw State (Fr. | Sharpesburg, Ga. | Sports Management)
1B - Malik Williams, Lipscomb (Sr. | Toronto, Ontario, Canada | Business)
2B - Aidan Sweatt, North Florida (So. | Fernandina Beach, Fla. | Sport Management)
3B - Abraham Sequera, North Florida (Sr. | Caracas, Venezuela | Sport Management)
SS - Tyler Simon, Kennesaw State (Sr. | Albany, Ga. | Biology)
OF - Ian Farrow, FGCU (So. | Merritt Island, Fla. | Integrated Studies)
OF - Brian Ellis#, FGCU (Jr. | Oviedo, Fla. | Health Services Admin.)
OF - TJ Reeves, Jacksonville State (Jr. | Birmingham, Ala. | Integrated Studies)
DH - Luke Harper, North Alabama (Sr. | Meridian, Miss. | Interdisciplinary Studies)
^ - A tie in voting resulted in a 14-person Second Team
ASUN All-Freshmen Team
1B - Donovan Cash*, Kennesaw State (Sharpsburg, Ga. | Sports Management)
OF - Zac Corbin*, Kennesaw State (Jefferson, Ga. | Exercise Science)
SS - Caleb Ketchup*, Lipscomb (Atlanta, Ga.| Business Finance)
IF - Tanner Leonard, Central Arkansas (Searcy, Ark. | Health Education)
OF - Harrison Povey, FGCU (Indian Rocks Beach, Fla. | Pre-Finance)
P - AJ Causey, Jacksonville State (Harvest, Ala. | Business)
IF - Brennen Norton, Jacksonville State (Cullman, Ala. | Integrated Studies)
P - Smith Pinson, Kennesaw State (Leesburg, Ga. | Business)
IF - Cameron Foster, Liberty (Douglasville, Ga. | Mechanical Engineering)
P - Garrett Horn, Liberty (Kernersville, N.C. | Sports Psychology)
OF/2B - Jonathan Lane, North Alabama (Fort Lauderdale, Fla. | Undecided)
1B - Jake Bullard, Stetson (Hampton, N.H. | Business Administration)
P - Dominic Stagliano, Stetson (Boynton Beach, Fla. | Business Administration)
* - Denotes unanimous selection
# - Denotes a two-time selection to the All-Conference Team
ASUN Conference, Atlanta, Ga. – the only DI conference headquartered in the ATL, our footprint's primary media, sports, business, transportation and cultural hub
The ASUN, a Division I conference member of the NCAA, boasts a membership of institutions that share visionary leadership, bold ambition and creative innovation. As a nimble adaptive conference, unafraid to blaze a national pathway for better service to our student-athletes, teams, and institutions, the ASUN has a proud history of firsts, national academic and athletic achievements and a conference culture that walks the walk with its four ASUN Beams. Students First! Rise. Connect. Impact. #ASUNBuilt by Bellarmine (Louisville), Central Arkansas (Conway), Eastern Kentucky (Richmond), FGCU (Fort Myers), Jacksonville (Fla.), Jacksonville State (Jacksonville, Ala.), Kennesaw State (Ga.), Liberty (Lynchburg, Va.), Lipscomb (Nashville), North Alabama (Florence), North Florida (Jacksonville, Fla.), and Stetson (DeLand, Fla.). Austin Peay, based in Clarksville, Tenn., and Queens University, based in Charlotte, N.C., are set to join the league in the 2022-23 academic year.