JSU baseball: Reeves paces Gamecocks' six all-ASUN selections

Mark Edwards, The Anniston Star, Ala.
·5 min read

May 22—A half-dozen Jacksonville State players earned a spot on the All-ASUN Conference baseball team, which was released Monday.

Senior center fielder T.J. Reeves led the way as a first-team selection. He made the second team last year. He slugged 15 homers and ranked second in the ASUN with 69 RBIs. He hit .333.

Second baseman Javon Hernandez, outfielder Mason Maners and starting pitcher AJ Causey made the second team.

Starting pitcher Eli Zielinski made third team and the ASUN's all-freshman squad. Catcher Bear Madliak made the all-freshman squad as well.

Hernandez hit an ASUN-leading .407. Against ASUN opponents, he batted .500. He has 85 hits and delivered multiple hits in 24 of JSU's 53 games.

Maners ranked second on the team by batting .350. His 12 homers were second to Reeves. His on-base percentage of .462 ranked second to Hernandez's .492.

Causey, a right-hander, is 5-2 with a 4.52 ERA. He was JSU's regular Friday night starter.

Zielinski posted a 2.93 ERA and a 6-0 record through nine starts before being sidelined with an injury.

Madliak, a transfer from Georgia where he redshirted last year, batted .332. He ranked second on the team with 13 doubles.

The Gamecocks (25-28) will open the ASUN tournament Wednesday against tournament-host Stetson at 1:30 p.m. They'll play Eastern Kentucky on Thursday at 6 p.m. and Austin Peay on Friday at 6 p.m. The ASUN semifinals are Saturday and finals are Sunday.

Despite finishing fourth in the ASUN standings, JSU is seeded seventh for the tournament. For seeds 2 through 8, the ASUN uses RPI to determine placement.

JSU is in the second four-team pool and must win it to advance. In the first four-team pool, the top three will advance.

Player of the Year: Edrick Felix, FGCU

Defensive Player of the Year: Logan Thomason, EKU

Pitcher of the Year: Logan Van Treeck, Lipscomb

Freshman of the Year: Evan Chrest, Jacksonville

Coach of the Year: Jeff Forehand, Lipscomb

ASUN First Team All-Conference

SP — Jesse Barker, Central Arkansas (Jr. — Benton, Ark. — General Science)

SP — Evan Chrest, Jacksonville (Fr. — Tampa, Fla. — Communications)

SP — Logan Van Treeck, Lipscomb (Jr. — Lincoln, Neb. — Kinesiology)

RP — Chris Lotito, Jacksonville (R-So. — Middletown, N.J. — Sociology)

C — Austin Kelly, Lipscomb (R-So. — Leland, Miss. — Business Administration)

1B — Joe Kinker^, FGCU (Sr. — North Port, Fla. — Pre-Secondary Education)

2B — Edrick Felix, FGCU (Jr. — Orlando, Fla. — Business Management)

3B — Kris Armstrong, Jacksonville (Gr. — Jupiter, Fla. — MBA)

SS — Logan Thomason, EKU (Sr. — Richmond, Ky. — Sport Management)

SS — Alex Lodise, North Florida (Fr. — St. Augustine, Fla. — Sport Management)

OF — Brian Ellis^, FGCU (Sr. — Oviedo, Fla. — Exercise Science)

OF — T.J. Reeves#, Jax State (Sr. — Birmingham, Ala. — Integrated Studies)

OF — Austin Brinling, North Florida (Jr. — Bradenton, Fla. — Sport Management)

DH — Alejandro Figueredo#, FGCU (Sr. — Sucre, Venezuela — Integrated Studies)

* — a tie in voting resulted in a 14-person First Team

ASUN Second Team All-Conference

SP — AJ Causey, Jax State (So. — Harvest, Ala. — Business)

SP — Garrett Horn#, Liberty (So. — Kernersville, N.C. — Sports Psychology)

SP — Austin Amaral, Stetson (Jr. — Debary, Fla. — Human Resource Management)

RP — Hayden Frank, Lipscomb (So. — Riceville, Tenn. — Accounting)

C — Will King#, EKU (Jr. — New York, N.Y. — General Studies)

1B — Riley Cheek, Queens (Sr. — Shelby, N.C. — Business)

2B — Javon Hernandez, Jax State (Jr. — Dansbury, Conn. — Business)

3B — Trace Willhoite, Lipscomb (So. — Georgetown, Ky. — Business)

SS — Caleb Ketchup, Lipscomb (So. — Atlanta, Ga. — Business Finance)

OF — Garrett Martin, Austin Peay (Sr. — Westminster, Colo. — General Studies/Organizational Administration)

OF — Harrison Povey, FGCU (So. — Indian Rocks Beach, Fla. — Business)

OF — Mason Manners, Jax State (Jr. — Vestavia Hills, Ala. — Psychology)

DH — Lyle Miller-Green, Austin Peay (Sr. — Burke, Va. — General Studies/Health)

ASUN Third Team All-Conference

SP — Eli Zielinski, Jax State (Fr. — Daphne, Ala. — Undecided)

SP — Noah Thompson, Lipscomb (Gr. — Louisville, Ky. — Civil Engineering)

SP — Braydon Tucker, Lipscomb (Gr. — Brazil, Ind. — Sports Marketing and Management)

SP — Dominick Madonna, North Florida (Sr. — Lady Lake, Fla. — Finance)

RP — LJ McDonough, FGCU (Sr. — Blanchard, Okla. — Undecided)

C — Alejandro Rodriguez, FGCU (Sr. — Cidra, Puerto Rico — Health Science)

1B — Brayden Horton, Liberty (Fr. — Sayre, Pa. — Sport Management)

2B — Aidan Sweatt#, North Florida (Jr. — Fernandina Beach, Fla. — Sport Management)

3B — Jacob Lojewski, FGCU (Jr. — West Palm Beach, Fla. — Exercise Science)

SS — Lorenzo Meola, Stetson (Fr. — Green Brook, N.J. — Undecided)

OF — Clayton Gray, Austin Peay (Jr. — Cabot, Ark. — General Studies/Organizational Administration)

OF — Stephen Wilmer, FGCU (Sr. — Sarasota, Fla. — Exercise Science)

OF — Alex Vergara, Lipscomb (Jr. — Colleyville, Texas — Business Management)

DH — Spencer Hanson, Kennesaw State (Sr. — Leesburg, Va. — Sports Management)

* — a tie in voting resulted in a 14-person Third Team

ASUN All-Freshman Team

P — Evan Chrest*, Jacksonville (Tampa, Fla. — Communications)

SS — Alex Lodise*, North Florida (St. Augustine, Fla. — Sport Management)

P — Chase Alderman, EKU (Morehead, Ky. — Accounting)

2B — Justin Nadeau, Jacksonville (St. Johns, Fla. — Sport Business)

C — Bear Madliak, Jax State (Carrollton, Ga. — Integrated Studies)

P — Eli Zielinski, Jax State (Daphne, Ala. — Undecided)

C — Brayden Horton, Liberty (Sayre, Pa. — Sport Management)

OF — Kane Kepley, Liberty (Salisbury, N.C. — Undecided)

OF — Jamarie Brooks, Kennesaw State (Riverdale, Ga. — Undecided)

SS — Gehrig Frei, North Alabama (Alpharetta, Ga. — Exercise Science)

SS — Lorenzo Meola, Stetson (Green Brook, N.J. — Undecided)

1B — Landon Moran, Stetson (Altamonte Springs, Fla. — Undecided)

INF — Jayden Hylton, Stetson (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. — Undecided)

* — Denotes unanimous selection

# — Denotes a two-time selection to the All-Conference Team

^ — Denotes a three-time selection to the All-Conference Team

Senior Editor Mark Edwards: 256-235-3570. On Twitter: @MarkSportsStar.