Baseball

Three Named to Collegiate Baseball Newspaper All-America teams

TUCSON, Ariz. - Three Sun Belt baseball student-athletes were named 2018 preseason All-America by Collegiate Baseball on Monday.

The organization named Louisiana's Gunner Leger and Coastal Carolina's Kevin Woodall, Jr. to the second team while South Alabama's Travis Swaggerty was chosen to the third team.

Leger, a left-handed pitcher, enters his senior season as one of the most decorated pitchers in the league. He was the Sun Belt Pitcher of the Year in 2017 and Freshman of the Year in 2015. He was chosen to the All-Sun Belt First Team in 2016 and 2017.

Leger closed out his junior campaign with a 10-2 record and a 1.97 earned run average in 91.1 innings pitched. He struck out 84 and allowed 20 earned runs on the season. Opponents hit .206 against Leger with 13 extra base hits in 321 at bats.

Woodall, a senior first baseman, was voted first team All-Sun Belt last season after he led the league in both home runs (18) and RBI (60). While he tied for 21st in the NCAA in home runs, his 18 round-trippers at the conclusion of the regular season ranked eighth-best nationally. Woodall drove in 1.05 runs per game to rank 46th in the NCAA, had a hit in 42 of 57 games played in 2017 and reached base safely (hit/walk/hit by pitch) in 52 of his 57 games for the year.

For the year, Woodall batted .262 with 58 hits, 60 runs scored, 11 doubles and 34 walks. He reached base safely in a career-best 17 games straight during one stretch and reached safely in 31 of his last 33 games of the 2017 season. Woodall is the 12th Chanticleer to earn preseason All-America honors from the paper.

Swaggerty, a junior outfielder, earned second-team All-America honors from the American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings last season, as well as first team all-region and first team All-Sun Belt Conference accolades. He led the Sun Belt in on-base percentage (.484), which ranked 12th nationally in 2017, RBI (60) and runs scored (55), ranked second in batting average (.363) and total bases (125), and fourth in stolen bases (19).

Swaggerty played in 19 games for Team USA over the summer, and ranked second on the squad in hits (21) and on-base percentage (.449). He finished third in stolen bases (6) and batting average (.328) while helping Team USA to a 15-5 record over 20 contests.