ROCK HILL, S.C. -- Lenoir-Rhyne freshman pitcher Joshua Lanham was named the South Atlantic Conference's Freshman of the Year and five Bears were named to the All-Conference team as announced by the league this morning. 

Lanham becomes the first LR player to be named SAC Freshman of the Year since Justin Crowell in 2007 and just the third league Freshman of the Year in team history. Heading into the conference tournament, Lanham is eighth in the nation and first in the conference with 79 strikeouts and also leads the league with an 8.78 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Lanham owns a 6-1 record and a 2.50 ERA to go with a 0.87 WHIP.

Joining Lanham on the First Team All-Conference is OF Drue Galassi. Galassi led the league with 14 home runs and is third in the conference in walks and fifth in runs scored. Galassi finished the regular season with a .350 batting average and a .462 on base percentage. Galassi's .736 slugging percentage ranks sixth in the league as does his 46 hits.

Fellow OF E.J. Ranel earned Second Team All-Conference honors, finishing the regular season with a .315 batting average and was fifth in the legaue with 11 home runs and seventh with 37 runs batted in. SP Andrew Patrick also earned a spot on the Second Team All-Conference after allowing just 32 hits in 50.2 innings of work to go with a 6-2 record and a 3.02 ERA. Patrick threw the first no-hitter since 1997 against No. 8 Catawba and allowed opponents to hit .179 on the year.

Rounding out the All-Conference selections is SP Alex Shirazi who was an Honorable Mention selection. The Bears No. 1 starter finished the year with a 4-3 record and a 2.60 ERA. 

 All-SAC First Team
OF – Drue Galassi, Lenoir-Rhyne
OF – Brandon Trammell, Tusculum
OF – Tyler Thompson, Carson-Newman
1B – Hunter Shepherd, Catawba
2B – Daulton Martin, Tusculum
SS – Jeremy Simpson, Catawba
3B – Cameron Mills, Catawba
C – Tyler Blaum, Virginia-Wise
DH – Trey Hinton, Tusculum
SP – Bryan Ketchie, Catawba
SP – Joshua Lanham, Lenoir-Rhyne
SP – Brayden Coe, Carson-Newman
RP – Brody McCullough, Wingate
 
All-SAC Second Team
OF – Gabe Wurtz, Virginia-Wise
OF – E.J. Ranel, Lenoir-Rhyne
OF – Lee Poteat, Catawba
1B – Benjamin Huber, Limestone
2B – Joe Butts, Catawba
SS – Bryson Ford, Tusculum
3B – Tyler Lala, Mars Hill
C – Cameron Morrison, Catawba
DH – Dylan Wilkinson, Catawba
SP – Andrew Patrick, Lenoir-Rhyne
SP – Hunter Dula, Wingate
SP – Greg Brown, Catawba
RP – Robbie Cowie, Catawba
 
Honorable Mentions
OF – Jack Harris, Newberry
OF – Alex Cornell, Limestone
OF – Josh Evans, Limestone
1B – Luke Orr, Newberry
2B – McCann Mellett, Wingate
SS – Michael Dansky, Wingate
3B – Aidan Baur, Newberry
C – Logan McNeely, Wingate
DH – Drew Klaserner, Coker
SP – Alex Shirazi, Lenoir-Rhyne
SP –Tomas Sorcia Jr., Newberry
SP - Gunner Becker, Tusculum
RP – Mitch McCain, Tusculum
 
All-Defensive Team
RF – Lee Poteat, Catawba
CF – Bryce Butler, Catawba
LF – Alex Cornell, Limestone
1B – Hunter Shepherd, Catawba
2B – Lake Lybrand, Coker
SS – Jeremy Simpson, Catawba
3B – Cameron Mills, Catawba
C – Tyler Blaum, Virginia-Wise
P – Bryan Ketchie, Catawba
 
Player of the Year
Hunter Shepherd, Catawba
 
Pitcher of the Year
Bryan Ketchie, Catawba
 
Freshman of the Year
Joshua Lanham, Lenoir-Rhyne
 
Coach of the Year
Jim Gantt, Catawba