FRISCO, Texas – After another tight race in Southland Conference baseball, a wide range of schools are represented in the annual superlative awards, all-conference, and all-defensive teams, released Monday by the Southland office.
The awards are announced ahead of the
2024 Southland Conference Baseball Championship, which will be played Tuesday-Saturday, May 22-25 in Hammond, La., at Pat Kenelly Diamond at Alumni Field on the campus of Southeastern Louisiana University.
Nicholls' Edgar Alvarez is the Player of the Year, New Orleans’ Mitchell Sanford is the Hitter of the Year, Lamar's Brooks Caple is the Pitcher of the Year, Nicholls' Nico Saltaformaggio is the Relief Pitcher of the Year, Southeastern's Larson Fabre is the Freshman of the Year, and UIW’s Dalton Beck is the Newcomer of the Year.
Lamar head coach Will Davis won the Clay Gould Coach of the Year award after leading the Cardinals to their first Jim Gilligan Trophy as regular season champions since 2004, claiming the title outright with a 17-7 conference record. It is Lamar's 11th regular season title in program history. Big Red also posted their first 40-win season since 2004.
Alvarez was an all-around star for Nicholls to win Player of the Year, earning first team all-conference honors at first base and also earning all-defensive honors. He was the lone SLC player to be named semifinalist for Dick Howser Trophy and led the Southland with a .417 batting average, ranking 7th in the NCAA. Alvarez was also named to the Bragan Slugger Award watch list, tallying a hit in all but five games. He reached base in all 52 as he totaled a league-best 85 hits, ranking eighth in NCAA, and led the SLC with a .518 on-base percentage (16th in NCAA). Alvarez had three or more hits in 10 games, including a 4-hit effort against Tulane. He put together a 21-game hitting streak and set a school single-season record, leading SLC with 66 runs scored. He was also ranked third in RBI (59) and walks (46), fourth in doubles (19) and fifth in homers (11). Alvarez had a near-flawless .998 fielding percentage with just one throwing error in a league-high 466 chances.
Sanford put up big numbers across the board this season. He ranked in the top three in the Southland in batting average, slugging percentage, doubles, home runs, triples and stolen bases. He sports a .381 batting average with 15 home runs and 67 RBI. He also has 17 stolen bases while only getting caught once and added six outfield assists this season. Sanford had 22 multi-hit games this season.
A semifinalist for the College Baseball Foundation Pitcher of the Year Award, Caple made 14 starts, posting a 7-3 (.700) record with a 2.29 ERA and a 0.86 WHIP. He recorded 96 strikeouts in 90.1 innings pitched and held opponents to a .168 batting average. Caple leads the Southland in ERA, innings pitched, and remains second in the Southland in strikeouts and opponent’s batting average, while sitting tied for first in the league in wins. Caple led a Cardinals’ staff leads that leads the nation in ERA. Caple also fielded his position perfectly without recording an error.
A two-time SLC Pitcher of the Week, Saltaformaggio finished with a 6-4 record and two saves with a 4.04 ERA. One of seven SLC pitchers with at least six victories, he ranks seventh in ERA in SLC and 11th in opponent batting average (.264). Saltaformaggio struck out eight in 7.1 innings of relief in a win at UIW and earned a win against first-place Lamar with six shutout innings out of the bullpen.
Fabre made an immediate impact for the Lions out of the pen in the 2024 season, going 3-1 and pitching 25.2 innings for a 3.86 ERA. Fabre held opponents to a .206 batting average. He posted back-to-back brilliant outings against HCU and Southern Miss, pitching 4.2 innings in each contest while allowing on one run on one hit against the Huskies and no runs on two hits with three strikeouts against the Golden Eagles.
Beck led the SLC in slugging percentage (.733), hits (85), RBIs (67), and home runs (18). He’s top three in nine different conference categories while holding the UIW season record for most RBIs, doubles, hits, home runs, and total bases. Across the NCAA, Beck is 39th in slugging percentage, 25th in hits, and 26th for RBIs. He tallied four-plus RBIs in seven games this season. Beck is also perfect on stolen base attempts, going 7-for-7 on the season.
Player of the Year: Edgar Alvarez, Nicholls
Hitter of the Year: Mitchell Sanford, New Orleans
Pitcher of the Year: Brooks Caple, Lamar
Relief Pitcher of the Year: Nico Saltaformaggio, Nicholls
Freshman of the Year: Larson Fabre, Southeastern
Newcomer of the Year: Dalton Beck, UIW
Clay Gould Coach of the Year: Will Davis, Lamar
2024 All-Southland Conference First Team
| Pos. |
Name |
School |
Class |
Hometown |
| C |
Miguel Useche |
New Orleans |
Sr. |
Caracas, Venezuela |
| 1B |
Edgar Alvarez |
Nicholls |
Sr. |
Orlando, Fla. |
| 2B |
Isaac Webb |
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi |
R-Jr. |
Collinsville, Okla. |
| SS |
TJ Salvaggio |
Southeastern |
Jr. |
Slidell, La. |
| 3B |
Shea Thomas |
Southeastern |
Sr. |
Olympia, Wash. |
| OF |
Mitchell Sanford |
New Orleans |
R-Jr. |
Berwick, La. |
| OF |
Samuel Benjamin |
HCU |
Sr. |
Katy, Texas |
| OF |
Cooper Hext |
McNeese |
Sr. |
DeQuincy, La. |
| DH |
Dalton Beck |
UIW |
Jr. |
Frisco, Texas |
| UT |
Bryce Calloway |
New Orleans |
Jr. |
New Orleans, La. |
| SP |
Brooks Caple |
Lamar |
Sr. |
Gunter, Texas |
| SP |
Colton Mercer |
New Orleans |
Jr. |
Sneads, Fla. |
| SP |
Brennan Stuprich |
Southeastern |
R-Jr. |
Kenner, La. |
| RP |
Nico Saltaformaggio |
Nicholls |
Sr. |
Destrehan, La. |
2024 All-Southland Conference Second Team
| Pos. |
Name |
School |
Class |
Hometown |
| C |
Zak Skinner |
Lamar |
Jr. |
Melbourne, Australia |
| 1B |
Brayden Evans |
Lamar |
Jr. |
Pearland, Texas |
| 2B |
Diego Villescas |
New Orleans |
Jr. |
Pharr, Texas |
| SS |
Parker Coddou |
Nicholls |
Sr. |
Thibodaux, La. |
| 3B |
Sebastian Trinidad |
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi |
Sr. |
Ponce, Puerto Rico |
| OF |
Reese Lipoma |
Northwestern State |
Jr. |
Gonzales, La. |
| OF |
Basiel Williams |
Nicholls |
R-Sr. |
Hammond, La. |
| OF |
Cameron Caley |
UIW |
Sr. |
The Woodlands, Texas |
| DH |
River Orsak |
Lamar |
Sr. |
Mount Belview, Texas |
| UT |
Drake Anderson |
Nicholls |
Jr. |
Puyallup, Wash. |
| SP |
Matthew Watson |
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi |
R-Jr. |
Rogers, Ark. |
| SP |
Jacob Ellis |
Lamar |
Sr. |
Edmond, Okla. |
| SP |
Hunter Hesseltine |
Lamar |
Jr.. |
Topeka, Kan. |
| RP |
Caleb Bunch |
Northwestern State |
Jr. |
Keller, Texas |
2024 Southland Conference All-Defensive Team
| Pos. |
Name |
School |
Class |
Hometown |
| C |
Miguel Useche |
New Orleans |
Sr. |
Caracas, Venezuela |
| 1B |
Edgar Alvarez |
Nicholls |
Sr. |
Orlando, Fla. |
| 2B |
Dalton Hurst |
New Orleans |
Jr. |
Port Orange, Fla. |
| SS |
Kanin Dodge |
Lamar |
Sr. |
Carencro, La. |
| 3B |
Rocco Gump |
Northwestern State |
Jr. |
Chandler, Ariz. |
| LF |
Cooper Hext |
McNeese |
Sr. |
DeQuincy, La. |
| CF |
Conner Westenburg |
McNeese |
Jr. |
Porter, Texas |
| RF |
Mitchell Sanford |
New Orleans |
R-Jr. |
Berwick, La. |
| P |
Cameron LeJeune |
McNeese |
R-Jr. |
Sulphur, La. |