May 20, 2014
MOBILE, Ala. - WKU pitchers Justin Hageman and Ian Tompkins were named First Team All-Sun Belt Conference selections while position players Ryan Church and Anderson Miller earned Second Team All-Sun Belt recognition, the league announced Tuesday night at Stanky Field.
The Hilltoppers' four All-Sun Belt Conference selections are their most since the 2011 season while Hageman and Tompkins are the first pair of WKU pitchers to pick up First-Team honors since 2010. WKU's four all-conference selections were the second most in the league behind Louisiana-Lafayette's nine honorees.
Hageman, a senior, was recognized as one of three league pitchers on the All-Sun Belt Conference first team after going 6-2 with a 2.87 ERA in 2014. All six of Hageman's wins came in league play and six of his eight quality starts came against Sun Belt Conference foes. Hageman's 2.87 ERA was the fourth lowest among qualifying pitchers in the league and he also ranked among the league leaders in opposing batting average (.248), runs allowed (37), earned runs allowed (28), wins (6), strikeouts (62) and innings pitched (87.2).
Hageman's signature victory of the season came at No. 1 Louisiana-Lafayette, as he stifled the nation's fourth-ranked offense to three runs over seven innings. He struck out three and was solid in front of a WKU offense that handed the Cajuns their worst loss of the season. Hageman was one of two league pitchers to record a quality start against Louisiana-Lafayette this season.
Tompkins was the lone relief pitcher selected to the All-Sun Belt Conference First Team and became WKU's first reliever recognized by the league since Rye Davis picked up first team accolades in 2010. The junior southpaw ranks eighth in the country and leads the Sun Belt Conference with 14 saves this season while striking out 15.92 batters per nine innings. Tompkins has struck out 46 batters in 26 innings and is 14-for-14 in save opportunities this season, including a four-out save at No. 4 Vanderbilt on Feb. 25.
Tompkins has a 1.73 ERA in 25 appearances this season and has only allowed five earned runs in his last 42 appearances dating back to the 2013 season. His career strikeouts per innings mark of 12.38 ranks third among active pitchers in the NCAA.
Church was named to the All-Sun Belt Conference Second Team at first base and Miller joined him on the field as an outfielder. Church was one of two first baseman in the league to be recognized as an All-SBC selection while Miller was one of six outfielders to earn all-conference recognition.
Church, a junior, led WKU with 38 RBI, seven home runs, 98 total bases and 469 putouts in 2014 and ranked second on the team with six stolen bases. Church posted 20 multiple-hit games, 10 multi-RBI performances, two multiple home runs games and scored 33 runs. He ranked fourth in the conference with 43 hits in league play and 11th in league batting average at .352. Defensively, Church ranked second in the conference with 469 putouts and had a hand in 39 of WKU's 47 double plays while sporting a fielding percentage of .979.
Miller was one of the top hitters in the Sun Belt Conference during league play, ranking seventh with 42 hits while scoring 37 runs and driving in 32 RBI overall. His breakout year vaulted him to the cleanup spot in WKU's lineup where he helped WKU to 14 wins in 23 games he's batted cleanup. Miller has been an extra-base machine, slugging .466 with 10 doubles, four triples and three home runs. He was named the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week on April 7 after racking up eight hits, four RBI, three doubles and a homer against league foe Arkansas State. He's tallied multiple hits in 18 games and multiple RBI in seven games while sporting an OPS of .860 Miller had at least one hit in 24 of 30 conference games and has been one of WKU's toughest outs with a .394 on-base percentage.
Louisiana-Lafayette swept the major awards with Carson Baranik winning Sun Belt Conference Pitcher of the Year, Jace Conrad earning Player of the Year and head coach Tony Robichaux receiving Coach of the Year honors after leading the Cajuns to a 49-7 record during the regular season. Troy relief pitcher Marc Skinner was named the Freshman of the Year.
WKU kicks off the SBC Championship Wednesday morning at 9 (CT) against Texas State, who also had four players receive all-conference recognition. For more information on WKU Baseball, follow the team on Twitter at @WKUBaseball and visit WKUSports.com.
