Bumgardner Headlines Upstate's A-Sun Postseason Honors
5/21/2013 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: David Beall, dbeall@uscupstate.edu
All-Conference Team (PDF) | All-Academic Team (PDF)
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Less than 24 hours before the opening game of the 2013 Atlantic Sun Baseball Championship, the conference office announced its annual postseason honors with Gaither Bumgardner headlining a group of USC Upstate players with first-team accolades as an outfielder.
Joining Bumgardner on the all-conference list was Chad Sobotka as a second-team representative, while Luke Weber and Chris Cox earned A-Sun All-Academic honors for excelling in the classroom and on the diamond.
A year after earning A-Sun Player of the Year honors, Bumgardner continues to receive respect around the league when the head coaches tabbed the senior as a first-team selection. He hit .390 in conference play this season with 25 multi-hit games and 79 total hits to rank fourth in the league. He ended the season with 14 hits in the last five games and hit safely in 14 of the final 15 games of the year. Bumgardner ranks in the top-four of several A-Sun career categories among active players, including tied for first in triples (10), second in hits (259), third in runs scored (128), fourth in RBI (118) and at-bats (744).
Sobotka follows up a unanimous A-Sun All-Freshman team selection in 2012 with a second-team all-conference nod in 2013, after finishing tied for third in the league with seven saves on the year. He recorded 44 strikeouts in 35.0 innings of work and earned the win in Upstate's victory over North Florida in the regular season finale to clinch a spot in the A-Sun Championship. Opponents are hitting just .226 against Sobotka in 24 appearances and the sophomore is tied for 11th in the history of the A-Sun Conference with 19 saves in just two seasons.
Weber makes his third straight appearance on the 13-member A-Sun All-Academic team, after holding a 3.43 cumulative grade point average in business administration, while hitting .363 in conference games to lead the Spartans back to the A-Sun Championship. He hit safely in 14 of the final 15 games of the regular season and had 10 multi-hit games over the last 15 contests of the year. He added 10 multi-RBI games and 19 multi-hit games, while also throwing out 15 of 40 base stealers for a .625 stolen base allowed percentage.
Chris Cox earns his first conference award as a member of the A-Sun All-Academic team after becoming the premier mid-week starter for Upstate in 2013 and holding a 3.61 cumulative grade point average in exercise science. He made 10 starts and posted a 5-3 record with a 2.87 earned run average and recorded 32 strikeouts in 53.1 innings of work. He tossed a gem at No. 14 Clemson during the final week of the regular season, lasting 7.0 innings and giving up just one earned run and striking out four.
The Spartans are set to open the 2013 A-Sun Championship Wednesday afternoon, taking on top-seeded and regular season champion Mercer at 1:15 p.m. at Melching Field on the campus Stetson University. Find a complete tournament preview by clicking here.
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