Three Tigers Named To All-SIAC Baseball Team

ALBANY, Ga. – The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) has announced its 2023 baseball all-conference awards, as voted on by the league's coaches and sports information directors.

Three Benedict College players were named to this year's squad. Justin Murray was named first-team All-SIAC as a utility player. Catcher Taj Bates and outfielder Isaiah Canty were named to the second team.

Murray ranked fourth in the SIAC and 34th in Division II in batting average, hitting .418. Murray played first base, second base, third base, and in the outfield for the Tigers this season. He ranks fifth in SIAC in doubles per game (.38), fourth in SIAC in hits per game (1.50), eighth in on-base pct. (.500), eighth in RBIs per game (1.15), 17th in runs per game (1.06), sixth in slugging pct. (.718), and ninth in stolen bases per game (0.62).

Bates ranked ninth in the SIAC in batting average (.381), while leading the SIAC in base on balls per game (1.03), which ranks fourth nationally. He was also second in the SIAC in on-base percentage (.567), second in doubles per game (0.41) and fifth in runs scored per game (1.21), and second in slugging percentage (.773). Bates also ranked fifth in the SIAC in home runs per game (0.24).

Canty was among the conference leaders with 69 RBIs, and was seventh in the league with an average of 1.18 RBIs per game. He was tied with Bates for fifth in the league in home runs per game (0.24), and was fourth in the SIAC in stolen bases per game (0.82).

Kentucky State's Joseph Esparza headlines the all-conference team after being selected as the 2023 SIAC Player of the Year alongside Albany State's Luke Addison, who was named Utility Player of the Year. Savannah State's Enrico Peele who was named 2023 Starting Pitcher of the Year.

Miles' Logan Watts earned this year's Relief Pitcher of the Year honor and his teammate, Trey Rutledge was selected as the 2023 SIAC Freshman of the Year.

Spring Hill's head coach, Walker Bullington, has been named 2023 SIAC Baseball Coach of the Year.

The Elite 14 award recognized the student-athlete who has reached the pinnacle of competition at the SIAC championship level in his or her sport while also achieving the highest academic standard among his or her peers. Collier Higgs of Kentucky State is this year's baseball Elite 14 recipient and Daiton Pass of Edward Waters University is the Co-Elite 14 Award recipient.

The 2023 Cricket SIAC Baseball Championship is set to take place May 4-7, 2023, at Albany State University, West Campus and Sherwood Christian Academy in Albany, GA. For more information, click here. Events can be watched live on the SIAC Sports YouTube channel.

Baseball All-Conference Honors

Coach of the Year: Walker Bullington, Spring Hill

Player of the Year: Joseph Esparza, Kentucky State

Utility Player of the Year: Luke Addison, Albany State

Starting Pitcher of the Year: Enrico Peele, Savannah State

Relief Pitcher of the Year: Logan Watts, Miles

Freshman of the Year: Trey Rutledge, Miles

Elite 14: Collier Higgs, Kentucky State, 4.0 GPA

Co-Elite 14: Daiton Pass, Edward Waters, 4.0 GPA