Benedict's Bates Named To SIAC Preseason Baseball Team | https://benedicttigers.com/
Benedict's Bates Named To SIAC Preseason Baseball Team | https://benedicttigers.com/
Benedict's Bates Named To SIAC Preseason Baseball Team
The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) has announced its 2023 Baseball Preseason Teams as voted on by the league's head coaches and sports information directors.
The 2023 preseason team returns 14 of the 30 players from the 2022 Baseball All-Conference Teams.
Benedict College sophomore catcher Taj Bates was named to the preseason first team. Bates had a strong freshman campaign in 2022, hitting .309 with 28 RBIs and 22 runs scored. Defensively, he threw out 15 runners on attempted steals, allowed just 12 passed balls and had a 90.3 fielding percentage.
The Tigers open the 2023 season on Feb. 18 with a doubleheader against Miles College, starting at noon.
Savannah State paced this year's preseason team with nine selections after closing last season with one of the best records in modern Tigers' history at 34-12. They led the regular season with a 28-2 conference mark and entered last year's tournament as the No. 1 seed. The Tigers return 2022 SIAC Player of the Year, Joe Smith.
The Golden Rams of Albany State (32-16, 24-5 SIAC) are tied at seven preseason selections with the Badgers of Spring Hill College. The Rams are returning most of the hitters from a team that ranked sixth in the country in batting average (.350) last season and second in the country in runs per game (10.7).
Defending SIAC champions, Spring Hill (38-15, 23-4 SIAC), closed out their 2022 campaign at the NCAA Division II South 1 Region Tournament and landed seven standout student-athletes on the league's preseason team.
Kentucky State (25-24, 15-11 SIAC) picked up three preseason selections. Miles College Golden Bears (27-23, 19-10 SIAC) return two preseason selections. Morehouse also collected one selection.
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