LAS VEGAS, Nev. – After earning First Team All-Big South Conference honors following his final season in a Spartan uniform, USC Upstate baseball alum Jason Matthews added to his trophy case with a postseason honor following his first year in professional baseball, earning International Player of the Year honors from the Pioneer Baseball League.
 
Competing for the Great Falls Voyagers (Great Falls, Mont.), Matthews carried the momentum of his senior season into his first within the Pioneer Baseball League—an MLB Partner League intended to serve as a developmental league for players with fewer than three years of professional baseball service.
 
In 78 games for Great Falls, the Auckland, New Zealand native hit .351, collecting 104 hits over 296 at-bats as he was one of two Voyagers to collect 100 or more hits during the 2021 season. Of his 104 hits, 35 went for extra bases as he finished second on the team with 19 doubles and eight triples while adding eight home runs. Matthews also led the team in runs scored with 79 while tying for the team lead in runs batted in and walks, driving in 69 runs and drawing 45 walks.
 
A 2021 First Team All-Big South selection, Matthews wrapped his Upstate career by hitting .344 across 52 games and 209 at-bats, leading the Spartans with 72 hits while tying the team lead with 23 extra-base hits. He ranked second in the Big South in hits (72) and doubles (20) as he found himself on the Brooks Wallace Award Midseason Watch List.
 
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