May 20th, 2008
Six Bobcats Tagged to the All-Southland Teams

Goldschmidt named Hitter of the Year

Frisco, TX – The Southland Conference office released the 2008 All-Southland Conference team selections Tuesday morning and six Bobcats took home accolades, including three first team honors and Paul Goldschmidt being named SLC Hitter of the Year.

Goldschmidt, the only sophomore named to the first team, took 16 of 24 first place votes to seal the selection. The Woodlands, Texas native finished the regular season in the top-ten standings in eight offensive categories, including the league’s home run leader with 17, a mark that falls just one shy of a Texas State single-season record. Goldschmidt also led the conference with a .693 slugging percentage and closed out the regular season with a .353 batting average, a team-best 76 hits, 37 multiple-base hits and 65 RBI.

Joining Goldschmidt on the all-conference first team are juniors Thomas Field (shortstop) and Adam Witek (second base). Field ended the season with a .969 fielding percentage guarding the gap and offensively led the Southland in triples (7) and finished eighth overall in the home run category (10). Witek’s .348 batting average notches the third-best mark on the Bobcat roster and the Schertz, Texas native finished the season with 15 stolen bases and a fifth overall league-standing with 87 putouts.

Lance Loftin and Zach Tritz both earned second-team honors. Loftin was recently named SLC Hitter of the Week and currently leads the Bobcat offense with a .358 batting average. The Waco, Texas native finished the regular season with 12 home runs, 68 hits, 53 RBI and 122 total bases.

Tritz closes out the season with a team-best 3.80 earned run average and a 9-3 overall record that shares the league-best mark. The Spring, Texas native tossed four complete games and one shutout contest in his 87.2 innings pitched this year.

Mike Hart rounds out the team selections by being named to the third team. Hart lead the team in strikeouts with 84, a Southland second-best standing. The New York native has amassed 222 strikeouts in his tenure at Texas State which makes him the No. 3 all-time career strikeout leader for the ‘Cats.

Elliott Babcock (outfield), Laurn Randell (outfield) and Ben Theriot (catcher) each received honorable mention votes for their efforts this season.

Regular season champions Texas-San Antonio led all teams with seven All-SLC selections, Sam Houston State, Lamar, A&M-Corpus Christi and Northwestern State each placed four players to the three teams. Central Arkansas, Texas-Arlington and Southeastern Louisiana placed two members to the teams, while Stephen F. Austin and Northwestern State both had one player on the three teams.

UTSA’s Sherman Corbett was named Coach of the Year for the second-straight season and Michael Rockett, Roadrunner outfielder, was named Player of the Year. Tim Erickson, LU, was named Pitcher of the Year, Stephen Flora, AMCC, was named Newcomer of the Year and Freshman of the Year went to Michael Choice of UTA.

By AMBER ARTERBERRY
Assistant Sports Information Director