Thursday, December 16, 2010

IRVINE, Calif. – Two of the nations top RBI men in 2010, ETSU's Paul Hoilman and Mercer's Jacob Tanis landed on National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association preseason All-America team.

Hoilman finished 2010 ranked top 25 nationally in batting average (.421), hits (99), runs (79), doubles (24), home runs (24), RBI (84), total bases (202), walks (51), slugging percentage (.860) and on base percentage (.526). The Atlantic Sun Player of the Year set ETSU single season records for hits, home runs, extra base hits, total bases, RBI, runs and walks. The Johnson City, Tenn. native also holds the career record for RBI (197) and walks (117), and tied Mike Nipper with 51 career home runs at the Atlantic Sun baseball tournament.

Tanis had a breakout year for the Bears, putting up numbers that littered the NCAA statistical leaders in multiple categories. Tanis finished 40th in the nation in runs scored (69), 10th in hits (104), tied for 19th in doubles (25), 12th in home runs (22), second in RBI (88), 31st in slugging percentage (.735) and third in total bases (197). He also rewrote the Mercer single-season record books with his play in 2010. Tanis set the school single-season record for total bases, hits and doubles, while his 22 home runs and 88 RBI both rank second in Mercer single-season history.

The A-Sun coaches voted Hoilman the 2010 Player of the Year while Tanis won the 2010 Tournament MVP honor after leading the Bears to their first crown in more than 25 years.