Dozier Named SLC Player Of The Year
5/20/2013 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 20, 2013
FRISCO, Texas - Junior shortstop Hunter Dozier was named the Southland Conference player and hitter of the year on Monday, while reliever Brett Higginbotham was named the league's relief pitcher of the year in a vote by the league's head coaches and sports information directors.
In addition, junior outfielder Ricardo Sanchez was named to the all-SLC second team and infielders Max Lamantia and Freddy Villalobos and pitcher Chase Greening each earned honorable mention nods.
Dozier is the third Lumberjack to ever be named the Southland's top player and hitter, joining Steven Hill (2007) and Bryson Myles (2011), each of whom also eventually also earned all-America honors and were selected in the MLB Draft the same year.
Higginbotham, who was also named to the all-SLC second team, is the first Lumberjack to earn the Southland's relief pitcher of the year honor, an award only initiated in 2010.
For Dozier, it is the second consecutive season he has been named to the all-SLC first team, with his postseason honors being in addition to other national recognition he is receiving, including being named a semifinalist for both the Brooks Wallace Award (nation's top shortstop) and the Dick Howser Trophy (nation's top player).
He currently leads the Southland Conference in home runs (17), RBI (50), doubles (23), slugging percentage (.759) and batting average (.394), while also ranking in the league's top five in hits (80), runs score (47), walks (34) and stolen bases (12).
His statistical marks in home runs, doubles, slugging percentage and total bases all rank in the national top five, while his 17 homers are by far the most of any shortstop in the country.
Higginbotham has been a wall at the back end of the bullpen for SFA since early in the season and in addition to earning the league's relief pitcher of the year honor, is also the only reliever to be selected to an all-conference team, earning all-league honors for the first time in his career.
Primarily a starter for his first three seasons, Higginbotham changed his delivery at the end of his junior year and honed his craft for his senior season. He currently ranks second in the league with nine saves, but has also posted a 4-2 record, 1.88 ERA and has opponents hitting just .156 against him.
But he has been even more impressive in conference play, posting a 4-0 mark with seven saves, and leading the Southland with a 0.32 ERA and .095 opponent average in 14 league-only appearances.
The second-team nod for Sanchez is the first such honor of his career as well after the junior hit .361 in the regular season, a mark that currently ranks fourth in the Southland. He is tied for second on the team behind Dozier with 18 multi-hit games and had a nine-game hit streak earlier in the season.
He also ranks second on the team with a career-high 61 hits, adding six doubles, a triple, three home runs and 20 RBI. He has three four-hit games this year, including a 4-for-4 day early in the season against Louisiana Tech and a 4-for-8 day that included the game-winning RBI double in the series finale at Nicholls.
SFA also landed three honorable mention nods in first baseman Lamantia, second baseman Villalobos and starting pitcher Greening. Lamantia leads all league first basemen with four home runs to go along with 27 RBI, a mark that ranks second on the Lumberjack roster.
Villalobos currently ranks second on the team with 28 RBI, and third with a .289 average and 59 hits, His five home runs ranks him in the league's top 10. Meanwhile, Greening held down Fridays all season long for SFA leading the team with 83.0 innings pitched and a pair of complete games. His 2.60 ERA ranks sixth in the league and his 74 strikeouts is seventh among conference arms.
The Lumberjacks will open up the Southland Conference Tournament on Wednesday at 9:00 a.m. as the No. 6 seed in the tournament against No. 3 Oral Roberts.
-SFA-
