NEW ORLEANS – University of South Alabama baseball catcher Carter Perkins was named Preseason All-Sun Belt Conference, as announced by the league office Thursday.
Perkins earned Second-Team All-Sun Belt honors as a junior last season after finishing 10th in the conference in home runs (9) and slugging percentage (.543) in Sun Belt games. He hit .301 with nine doubles, nine home runs, 43 RBIs, 38 runs scored, a .410 on-base percentage and .506 slugging percentage in 53 games played in 2018.
In conference contests, Perkins hit .326 with five doubles, five home runs, 21 RBIs, 21 runs scored and .427 OBP. He recorded 17 multiple-hit and 10 multi-RBI games, and hit safely in 32 of 53 games played.
Perkins was named the Sun Belt Player of the Week on April 24, 2018, after hitting .625 (10-for-16) with three doubles, three home runs, eight RBIs, seven runs scored, .684 OBP and 1.375 slugging percentage in a four-game span.
Arkansas State's Kyle MacDonald was named the 2018 Preseason Player of the Year, while Georgia State right-hander Hunter Gaddis was picked as the Preseason Pitcher of the Year.
South Alabama will open the 2019 season on Fri., Feb. 15, at 3 p.m. (CT) against Clemson in Clemson, S.C., and will host Alabama State Tue., Feb. 19, at 6:30 p.m. at Stanky Field in its home opener.
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).
Join the South Circle, the unrestricted giving option of the University of South Alabama Athletics. Contributions to South Circle directly support all 17 sports in addition to various support programming. For more information on how you can join visit: http://jaguarathleticfund.com/give.
—USA—
2019 Preseason All-Sun Belt Conference Baseball Team
Seth Shuman (Georgia Southern, Junior, Starting Pitcher)
Hunter Gaddis (Georgia State, Junior, Starting Pitcher)
Gunner Leger (Louisiana, Senior, Starting Pitcher)
Matt Eardensohn (Coastal Carolina, Senior, Relief Pitcher)
Carter Perkins (South Alabama, Senior, Catcher)
Kyle MacDonald (Arkansas State, Senior, First Base)
Cory Wood (Coastal Carolina, Junior, Second Base)
Hayden Cantrelle (Louisiana, Sophomore, Shortstop)
Drew Frederic (Troy, Junior, Third Base)
Parker Chavers (Coastal Carolina, Sophomore, Outfielder)
Daniel Lahare (Louisiana, Senior, Outfielder)
Rigsby Mosley (Troy, Sophomore, Outfielder)
Ryan Glass (Georgia State, Sophomore, Designated Hitter)
Brandon Bell (Georgia State, Senior, Utility Player)
2018 Preseason Player of the Year
Kyle MacDonald (Arkansas State, Senior, First Base)
2018 Preseason Pitcher of the Year
Hunter Gaddis (Georgia State, Junior, Starting Pitcher)
