NEW ORLEANS – Five University of South Alabama baseball student-athletes earned all-Sun Belt Conference honors for the 2018 season, as announced by the league office Monday.

Junior outfielders Dylan Hardy and Travis Swaggerty were named first-team all-SBC, and right-handed pitcher Tyler Carr, third baseman Brendan Donovan and catcher Carter Perkins were named second-team all-SBC.

It marks the second straight year Swaggerty has earned first team- all league honors, and the first time Hardy has been named first-team all-conference after being voted second-team all-SBC in 2017.

It also marks the first time Carr, Donovan and Perkins have received all-SBC honors.

Hardy finished second in the SBC in at-bats (224), third in hits (75), fifth in batting average (.335), tied for fifth in runs scored (54) and tied for eighth in stolen bases (17). He led the team with 25 multiple-hit games in the regular season, and drove in multiple runs in six contests. He hit safely in 39 of 53 games in the regular season, and recorded a career-best 25-game on-base streak after reaching safely in the first 25 games of the year. In 29 SBC contests, Hardy batted .325 with seven doubles, one triple, three home runs, 13 RBIs, 28 runs scored and 10 stolen bases in 11 attempts.

Swaggerty finished second in the league in walks (49), tied for fourth in home runs (13), fifth in on-base percentage (.450), eighth in runs scored (52) and total plate appearances (258), tied for eighth in total bases (108) and ninth in slugging percentage (.540). He recorded 15 multiple-hit and nine multi-RBI games in the regular season, and hit safely in 41 of 53 contests. Swaggerty recorded a season-best 27-game on-base streak, and also held a team-best 13-game hitting streak from March 31 – April 22. He hit .276 in 29 SBC games, with four doubles, eight home runs, 23 RBIs, 29 runs scored, six stolen bases, a .401 OBP and .517 slugging percentage. Swaggerty also recorded 93 putouts in center field without committing an error in 29 league games.

Carr is the first Jaguar hurler to earn all-league honors since Kevin Hill in 2016. The right-hander finished 8-3 with a 3.43 ERA with two complete games in 14 starts in the regular season, and struck out 60 batters against 21 walks in 89 1/3 innings pitched while also combining for one shutout. Carr was named the SBC Pitcher of the Week on April 24 after tossing his first career complete game and coming one strike away from pitching the program's first nine-inning no-hitter in an April 20 win at Texas State. He recorded 10 quality starts out of 14 in the regular season, and pitched at least six innings in all but two starts. Carr ranked second in the SBC in wins (8), tied for third in innings pitched (89.1) and ninth in ERA (3.43). He led the league in wins (7) in SBC contests, ranked fourth in innings pitched (65.1) and 11th in ERA (3.31). 

Donovan finished second in the league in sacrifice flies (6), fourth in RBIs (52), tied for fourth in walks (45), eighth in OBP (.444), tied for eighth in doubles (16) and tied for 10th in runs scored (46). He ranked second on the team with 18 multiple-hit games, and tied for the team lead with 15 multi-RBI contests. Donovan hit safely in 37 of 53 games this season, while recording an 11-game hit streak and 15-game on-base streak during the year. He batted .302 with 16 doubles, one triple, five home runs, 52 RBIs, 46 runs scored, five stolen bases, a .444 OBP and .474 slugging percentage in 53 regular season contets. In 29 SBC games, Donovan batted .315 with seven doubles, one triple, two home runs, 27 RBIs, 27 runs scored, four stolen bases, a .453 OBP and .454 slugging percentage. 

Perkins finished 10th in the SBC in home runs (9), and ranked 10th in slugging percentage (.543) in league games. Perkins batted .294 with seven doubles, nine home runs, 35 RBIs, 36 runs scored, a .409 OBP and .506 slugging percentage in 49 regular season games this year. In 26 SBC games, Perkins hit .326 with five doubles, five home runs, 21 RBIs, 21 runs scored, a .427 OBP and .543 slugging percentage. His selection marks the second consecutive year a Jaguar catcher has earned all-league honors after Jared Barnes received all-SBC recognition last season.

Troy's Joey Denison was named the SBC Player of the Year, while the Trojans Rigsby Mosley was voted the SBC Freshman of the Year. Louisiana's Colton Schmidt was named the SBC Pitcher of the Year, and Arkansas State first baseman Kyle McDonald was voted the SBC Newcomer of the Year. Coastal Carolina head coach Gary Gilmore was named the SBC Ron Maestri Coach of the Year. 

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with USAJaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at Twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

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All-Sun Belt Baseball First Team
Jason Bilous (Coastal Carolina, Jr., SP)
Brian Eichhorn (Georgia Southern, Jr., SP)
Colten Schmidt (Louisiana, Sr., SP)
Justin Garcia (Little Rock, Sr., RP)
Nick Gatewood (Georgia State, Jr., C)
Kevin Woodall, Jr. (Coastal Carolina, Sr., 1B)
Cory Wood (Coastal Carolina, So., 2B)
Seth Lancaster (Coastal Carolina, Sr., SS)
Drew Frederic (Troy, So., 3B)
Dylan Hardy (South Alabama, Jr., OF)
Travis Swaggerty (South Alabama, Jr., OF)
Joey Denison (Troy, Sr., OF)
Jeremy Brown (Arkansas State, Sr., UTIL)
Zach Bierman (Coastal Carolina, Jr., DH)
 
All-Sun Belt Baseball Second Team
Hunter Gaddis (Georgia State, So., SP)
Tyler Carr (South Alabama, Sr., SP)
Andrew Crane (Troy, Sr., SP)
Matt Eardensohn (Coastal Carolina, Jr., RP)
Carter Perkins (South Alabama, Jr., C)
Kyle MacDonald (Arkansas State, Jr., 1B)
Jonathan Ortega (Texas State, Jr., 2B)
Matt Sanders (Troy, Sr., SS)
Brendan Donovan (South Alabama, Jr., 3B)
Parker Chavers (Coastal Carolina, Fr., OF)
Daniel Lahare (Louisiana, Jr., OF)
Rigsby Mosley (Troy, Fr., OF)
Kennon Fontenot (Louisiana, Sr., UTIL)
Ryan Glass (Georgia State, Fr., DH)
 
Sun Belt Baseball Player of the Year
Joey Denison (Troy, Sr., OF)
 
Sun Belt Baseball Pitcher of the Year
Colten Schmidt (Louisiana, Sr., SP)
 
Sun Belt Baseball Freshman of the Year
Rigsby Mosley (Troy, Fr., OF)
 
Sun Belt Baseball Newcomer of the Year
Kyle MacDonald (Arkansas State, Jr., 1B)
 
Sun Belt Baseball Ron Maestri Coach of the Year
Gary Gilmore, Coastal Carolina