Tuesday, December 20, 2011

TUCSON, Ariz - After a succesful 2011 season, two Atlantic Sun Conference baseball squads earned national recognition with rankings in the Collegiate Baseball Preseason Top-40 Poll. Stetson, the defending regular season champions, landed at No. 26 in the poll, while Jacksonville - an NCAA Tournament Participant - claimed 38th in the poll.

Both teams advanced to the NCAA Tournament Regional Play with at-large bids last season joining Belmont in postseason play.

Stetson returns last season’s Atlantic Sun Conference Pitcher of the Year, Kurt Schluter, who was also named to the Collegiate Baseball/Louisville Slugger All-America team last spring after posting an 8-0 record with a 1.40 ERA, before missing the final six weeks of the year with an injury.

In addition to Schluter, the Hatters also return Lindsey Caughel (6-2, 4.88), Will Dorsey (7-6, 4.52) and Austin Perez (2-3, 4.64) as starting pitchers as well as bullpen stars Robbie Powell (5-3, 3.42, 8 saves) and Jake Boyd (9-1, 2.93, 6 saves).

Offensively, the Hatters return seven of the nine bats to the regular lineup and are expecting big things from the addition of catcher Sam Kimmel and the continued growth of sophomore outfielder Kyle Zech, who will likely fill the only vacancies.

Jacksonville is set to bring majority of its 2011 squad back that posted a 37-24 mark and earned its fourth trip to the NCAA regionals in the last six seasons. Leading the charge will be the Wisconsin duo of juniors Adam Brett Walker II and Dan Gulbransen.

Walker II led the A-Sun with a .409 batting average, 99 hits and 23 doubles in helping the Dolphins reach the NCAA regionals. He also paced the squad with 13 home runs, 75 RBI, 165 total bases and a .685 slugging percentage. His hits and total bases totals each broke single-season records for the program.

Walker II batted .446 with 16 doubles, six home runs and 42 RBI in conference play to take home the A-Sun “Player of the Year” and first team all-conference honors. He earned several All-America honors last season and was selected to the 2012 National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association preseason first team All-America on Dec. 14.

Gulbransen was named first team all-conference honors in 2011 after ranking second in average (.370), doubles (18), triples (2), RBI (52) and slugging percentage (.546).

The 2012 season opens for both teams on Feb. 17th as the Dolphins take on No. 40 Southern California and the Hatters welcome George Washington to DeLand.