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 Junior Steven Strausbaugh was projected to be the SoCon Player of the Year by Collegiate Baseball. |
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Jan. 8, 2007
Cullowhee, N.C. - Western Carolina was selected as the preseason favorite to win the Southern Conference baseball regular season as named in the Jan. 5 edition of Collegiate Baseball. The same publication, which named junior Steven Strausbaugh to its 2007 Louisville Slugger/Collegiate Baseball Preseason All-American team back in December, tabbed the Venice, Fla., native as its projected SoCon Player of the Year.
Also listed among "other top players to watch" were four Catamounts juniors Jonathan Greene, Blake Murphy, Tyler Sexton and Greg Holland. Additionally, the Catamounts were also listed among Collegiate Baseball's Fabulous 40 in the "Other Teams Receiving Votes" category, 70th out of the 87 teams garnering recognition. WCU was one of two SoCon schools to receive recognition, ranking in front of the College of Charleston.
Over the past four months, Strausbaugh has acquired numerous accolades. In October, he was singled out by SEBaseball.com as one of the top 10 power hitters in the South. During the month of November, Strausbaugh was named to the College Baseball Foundation 2007 Brooks Wallace Award watch list for the National Player of the Year, and, along with teammate Jonathan Greene, was dubbed preseason All-American by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. Last month, he earned a similar honor from Collegiate Baseball.
During the 2006 season, Strausbaugh hit a SoCon-best 17 home runs in 54 games with his average of 0.31 home runs per game ranking 23rd nationally. He additionally ranked among the NCAA leaders in RBI (34th), slugging percentage (36th) and runs scored (39th). He additionally led the SoCon in RBI (64) and slugging percentage (.675) and was among the SoCon leaders ranking third in runs (61). Between his RBI and runs scored, he was single-handedly responsible for 2.3 runs per game. Even if counting his home runs just once in that equation (as either just an RBI or a run scored), he was still single-handedly responsible for 2.0 runs per game in 2006.
This past summer, he was the starting right fielder for the Cape Cod Baseball League champion Yarmouth-Denis Red Sox. Prior to that, Strausbaugh was tabbed first team All-SoCon and second team All-Atlantic Region by the American Baseball Coaches Association.
Western Carolina will open the 2007 season at High Point on Feb. 13. The Catamounts will stay on the road for three games at Kennesaw State (Feb. 16-18) before playing their home opener versus Connecticut Feb. 23-25. Western will open SoCon play at the College of Charleston March 23-25, 2007.
Collegiate Baseball - SoCon Projected Order of Finish:Rank School ('06 Finish) 2006 RPI 1. Western Carolina (6) 90 2. College of Charleston (2) 21 3. Elon (1) 24 4. UNC Greensboro (7) 120 5. The Citadel (5) 81 6. Georgia Southern (T-3) 80 7. Furman (T-3) 96 8. Appalachian State (8) 165 9. Davidson (9) 202 10. Wofford (10) 209
