@ASUNBSB Postseason Honors Revealed; FGCU's Felix Tabbed Player of the Year
@ASUNBSB Postseason Honors Revealed; FGCU's Felix Tabbed Player of the Year
2023 ASUN Conference Baseball Postseason Honors & Awards
ATLANTA – The 2023 ASUN Conference Baseball Postseason Honors and Awards, voted on by the league's 14 head coaches, were announced Monday afternoon by the league office.
FGCU's Edrick Felix highlighted the superlative awards as the ASUN Player of the Year. He was joined by Defensive Player of the Year Logan Thomason of EKU, Pitcher of the Year Logan Van Treeck of Lipscomb and Freshman of the Year Evan Chrest from Jacksonville. The Bisons' Head Coach Jeff Forehand rounded out the honors by being named ASUN Coach of the Year for the second-straight season.
Felix is the fourth student-athlete in school history for the Eagles to earn Player of the Year, and the first since Nick Rivera in 2017. He helped FGCU earn its way back to the ASUN Championship as the second seed in the event thanks to a tie for second at 20-10 in league play (38-17 overall). Felix owns numerous school records in just his first season with the squad, including single-season home runs (23), total bases (178) and slugging percentage (.791). The Orlando, Fla., native is third in the ASUN in batting average at .378, tied for first – with teammate Joe Kinker – in RBIs (73) and his 23 homers is tops in the league.
Thomason is the first Defensive Player of the Year for the Colonels in program history. He started more games at shortstop than any other player, and is first in the ASUN in double plays turned (42). The senior led ASUN shortstops with 246 chances, second with 87 putouts and second with 150 assists. He helped the Colonels lead the NCAA in double plays turned (57), while offensively, he also helped the club at the plate by hitting .303 with 14 HRs, 44 RBIs and 53 runs scored.
Van Treeck, who was named ASUN Pitcher of the Week twice this season, made 15 appearances and accumulated a 7-4 record with eight starts and 77.0 IP. He put up a 3.39 ERA with 97 strikeouts (second in the ASUN) and allowed just 11 walks all season. Opponents hit just .204 against Van Treeck, and he is third in the nation in strikeout-to-walk ratio (8.82), second in the country in WHIP (.88) and is 12th in the nation for walks allowed per nine innings (1.29). Van Treeck tossed two complete games while allowing just 20 runs in conference play to go with a 2.70 ERA in league games. ASUN batters struck out 75 times against him and had just a .185 batting average stepping into the box against the Lincoln, Neb., native.
Chrest is the fourth Freshman of the Year for the Dolphins in team history, and the first since another starting pitcher, Michael Baumann, back in 2015. Chrest was a Friday night starter for JAX as a true freshman. He leads the ASUN with a 2.84 ERA and set the program record as a freshman with 91 strikeouts (third in the league). He also won seven games to lead the team (second in the ASUN), was third in innings pitched (85.2) and turned in six quality starts. The Tampa, Fla., native registered double-digit strikeouts in a game twice, including 12 at Jax State, tied for the sixth-most in a game in team history.
Forehand heard his named called as ASUN Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season after taking home the first such honor in both his career and in the history of Lipscomb Baseball in 2022. Under his guidance, the Bisons are headed back to the ASUN Championship, but this time as the top seed and the regular-season champions at 33-22 (23-7 ASUN). Forehand has eight players on the All-Conference list this year in addition to Van Treeck claiming the Pitcher of the Year nod. Van Treeck and Austin Kelly made First Team All-Conference, while three other teammates are on both the second and third teams.
2023 ASUN Conference Baseball Postseason Honors & Awards
Player of the Year: Edrick Felix, FGCU
Defensive Player of the Year: Logan Thomason, EKU
Pitcher of the Year: Logan Van Treeck, Lipscomb
Freshman of the Year: Evan Chrest, Jacksonville
Coach of the Year: Jeff Forehand, Lipscomb
ASUN First Team All-Conference
SP - Jesse Barker, Central Arkansas (Jr. | Benton, Ark. | General Science)
SP - Evan Chrest, Jacksonville (Fr. | Tampa, Fla. | Communications)
SP - Logan Van Treeck, Lipscomb (Jr. | Lincoln, Neb. | Kinesiology)
RP - Chris Lotito, Jacksonville (R-So. | Middletown, N.J. | Sociology)
C - Austin Kelly, Lipscomb (R-So. | Leland, Miss. | Business Administration)
1B - Joe Kinker^, FGCU (Sr. | North Port, Fla. | Pre-Secondary Education)
2B - Edrick Felix, FGCU (Jr. | Orlando, Fla. | Business Management)
3B - Kris Armstrong, Jacksonville (Gr. | Jupiter, Fla. | MBA)
SS - Logan Thomason, EKU (Sr. | Richmond, Ky. | Sport Management)
SS - Alex Lodise, North Florida (Fr. | St. Augustine, Fla. | Sport Management)
OF - Brian Ellis^, FGCU (Sr. | Oviedo, Fla. | Exercise Science)
OF - T.J. Reeves#, Jax State (Sr. | Birmingham, Ala. | Integrated Studies)
OF - Austin Brinling, North Florida (Jr. | Bradenton, Fla. | Sport Management)
DH - Alejandro Figueredo#, FGCU (Sr. | Sucre, Venezuela | Integrated Studies)
* - a tie in voting resulted in a 14-person First Team
ASUN Second Team All-Conference
SP - AJ Causey, Jax State (So. | Harvest, Ala. | Business)
SP - Garrett Horn#, Liberty (So. | Kernersville, N.C. | Sports Psychology)
SP - Austin Amaral, Stetson (Jr. | Debary, Fla. | Human Resource Management)
RP - Hayden Frank, Lipscomb (So. | Riceville, Tenn. | Accounting)
C - Will King#, EKU (Jr. | New York, N.Y. | General Studies)
1B - Riley Cheek, Queens (Sr. | Shelby, N.C. | Business)
2B - Javon Hernandez, Jax State (Jr. | Dansbury, Conn. | Business)
3B - Trace Willhoite, Lipscomb (So. | Georgetown, Ky. | Business)
SS - Caleb Ketchup, Lipscomb (So. | Atlanta, Ga. | Business Finance)
OF - Garrett Martin, Austin Peay (Sr. | Westminster, Colo. | General Studies/Organizational Administration)
OF - Harrison Povey, FGCU (So. | Indian Rocks Beach, Fla. | Business)
OF - Mason Maners, Jax State (Jr. | Vestavia Hills, Ala. | Psychology)
DH - Lyle Miller-Green, Austin Peay (Sr. | Burke, Va. | General Studies/Health)
ASUN Third Team All-Conference
SP - Eli Zielinski, Jax State (Fr. | Daphne, Ala. | Undecided)
SP - Noah Thompson, Lipscomb (Gr. | Louisville, Ky. | Civil Engineering)
SP - Braydon Tucker, Lipscomb (Gr. | Brazil, Ind. | Sports Marketing and Management)
SP - Dominick Madonna, North Florida (Sr. | Lady Lake, Fla. | Finance)
RP - LJ McDonough, FGCU (Sr. | Blanchard, Okla. | Undecided)
C - Alejandro Rodriguez, FGCU (Sr. | Cidra, Puerto Rico | Health Science)
1B - Brayden Horton, Liberty (Fr. | Sayre, Pa. | Sport Management)
2B - Aidan Sweatt#, North Florida (Jr. | Fernandina Beach, Fla. | Sport Management)
3B - Jacob Lojewski, FGCU (Jr. | West Palm Beach, Fla. | Exercise Science)
SS - Lorenzo Meola, Stetson (Fr. | Green Brook, N.J. | Undecided)
OF - Clayton Gray, Austin Peay (Jr. | Cabot, Ark. | General Studies/Organizational Administration)
OF - Stephen Wilmer, FGCU (Sr. | Sarasota, Fla. | Exercise Science)
OF - Alex Vergara, Lipscomb (Jr. | Colleyville, Texas | Business Management)
DH - Spencer Hanson, Kennesaw State (Sr. | Leesburg, Va. | Sports Management)
* - a tie in voting resulted in a 14-person Third Team
ASUN All-Freshman Team
P - Evan Chrest*, Jacksonville (Tampa, Fla. | Communications)
SS - Alex Lodise*, North Florida (St. Augustine, Fla. | Sport Management)
P - Chase Alderman, EKU (Morehead, Ky. | Accounting)
2B - Justin Nadeau, Jacksonville (St. Johns, Fla. | Sport Business)
C - Bear Madliak, Jax State (Carrollton, Ga. | Integrated Studies)
P - Eli Zielinski, Jax State (Daphne, Ala. | Undecided)
C - Brayden Horton, Liberty (Sayre, Pa. | Sport Management)
OF - Kane Kepley, Liberty (Salisbury, N.C. | Undecided)
OF - Jamarie Brooks, Kennesaw State (Riverdale, Ga. | Undecided)
SS - Gehrig Frei, North Alabama (Alpharetta, Ga. | Exercise Science)
SS - Lorenzo Meola, Stetson (Green Brook, N.J. | Undecided)
1B - Landon Moran, Stetson (Altamonte Springs, Fla. | Undecided)
INF - Jayden Hylton, Stetson (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. | Undecided)
* - Denotes unanimous selection
# - Denotes a two-time selection to the All-Conference Team
^ - Denotes a three-time selection to the All-Conference Team
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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 Austin Peay (Clarksville, Tenn.), Bellarmine (Louisville, Ky.), Central Arkansas (Conway, Ark.), EKU (Richmond, Ky.), FGCU (Fort Myers, Fla.), Jacksonville (Fla.), Jax State (Jacksonville, Ala.), Kennesaw State (Ga.), Liberty (Lynchburg, Va.), Lipscomb (Nashville, Tenn.), North Alabama (Florence, Ala.), North Florida (Jacksonville, Fla.), Queens (Charlotte, N.C.) and Stetson (DeLand, Fla.).