Lipscomb baseball's Jeff Forehand named ASUN coach of the year; Caleb Ketchup is top defensive player
Lipscomb baseball coach Jeff Forehand was named the Atlantic Sun coach of the year Tuesday and the Bisons' Caleb Ketchup was the defensive player of the year.
Forehand, in his 16th season, earned the award for the first time in his career and became the first coach in Lipscomb program history to earn the honor.
He led the Bisons (34-20 overall, 20-10 ASUN) to the West Division championship, their first since 2008. Forehand also reached his milestone 600th career victory this season with a 12-4 win over Akron.
Forehand began his coaching career at Goodpasture then spent six seasons at Trevecca.
Ketchup, a shortstop, made an immediate impact for Lipscomb as a redshirt freshman. The Atlanta, Georgia native collected 155 assists, the third-most in the ASUN, and 69 putouts. He fielded .933 on the season and was part of 22 double plays.
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Offensively, Ketchup had a .290 batting average and hit .322 in conference play. He was the leadoff batter for most of the season and had 23 RBI on 56 hits. He stole 30 bases to lead the ASUN and rank 16th nationally.
Ketchup also made the All-Freshman team.
Lipscomb opened the conference tournament Tuesday at 2 p.m. with a game against Kennesaw State at Swanson Stadium in Ft. Myers, Florida.
ASUN first team
SP - Tyler Cleveland, Central Arkansas
SP - Joe Adametz III, Liberty
SP - Isaiah Magwood, Jacksonville State
RP - Will Brian, Eastern Kentucky
C - Will King, Eastern Kentucky
1B - Joe Kinker, FGCU
2B - Cole Frederick, Jacksonville State
3B - Alejandro Figueredo, FGCU
SS - Isaiah Byars, North Florida
OF - Matt Higgins#, Bellarmine
OF - Kendal Ewell, Eastern Kentucky
OF - Josh Hatcher, Kennesaw State
DH - Brady Gulakowski, Liberty
ASUN second team
SP - Garrett Horn, Liberty
SP - Michael Dunkelberger, Lipscomb
SP - Peter Holden, North Florida
RP - Mason Fluharty, Liberty
C - Gray Betts, Liberty
1B - Donovan Cash, Kennesaw State
1B - Malik Williams, Lipscomb
2B - Aidan Sweatt, North Florida
3B - Abraham Sequera, North Florida
SS - Tyler Simon, Kennesaw State
OF - Ian Farrow, FGCU
OF - Brian Ellis#, FGCU
OF - TJ Reeves, Jacksonville State
DH - Luke Harper, North Alabama
All-Freshmen team
1B - Donovan Cash, Kennesaw State
OF - Zac Corbin, Kennesaw State
SS - Caleb Ketchup, Lipscomb
IF - Tanner Leonard, Central Arkansas
OF - Harrison Povey, FGCU
P - AJ Causey, Jacksonville State
IF - Brennen Norton, Jacksonville State
P - Smith Pinson, Kennesaw State
IF - Cameron Foster, Liberty
P - Garrett Horn, Liberty
OF/2B - Jonathan Lane, North Alabama
1B - Jake Bullard, Stetson
P - Dominic Stagliano, Stetson
Player of the Year: Matt Higgins, Bellarmine
Defensive Player of the Year: Caleb Ketchup, Lipscomb
Pitcher of the Year: Tyler Cleveland, Central Arkansas
Freshman of the Year: Donovan Cash, Kennesaw State
Coach of the Year: Jeff Forehand, Lipscomb
Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on Twitter @MikeOrganWriter
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Lipscomb baseballs Jeff Forehand named ASUN baseball coach of year
