Feb. 8, 2012

click here for coaches' SoCon preseason poll

Roache, Beck take top SoCon individual honors

Georgia Southern junior outfielder Victor Roache (left) was voted Preseason Player of the Year and teammate Chris Beck was tabbed Preseason Pitcher of the Year in the Southern Conference in voting by the league’s head coaches and released by the conference office.

Roache led the nation and set a conference single-season record with 30 home runs in 2011. He drove in 84 and registered 179 total bases, both of which led the SoCon and placed second nationally.

Beck went 9-5 a season ago in 19 starts as a sophomore with 109 strikeouts in 103 innings, both conference highs. He allowed two runs, one earned, in 17 innings during the 2011 SoCon Tournament with eight hits, one walk and a conference record of 22 strikeouts.

Georgia Southern and Samford led the way with three first-team selections, while Appalachian State paced all teams with five total honorees.

The 2012 campaign begins on Friday, Feb. 17 with all 11 teams taking the field. Conference play starts the weekend of March 2-4 with Elon traveling to College of Charleston. The 2012 Southern Conference Championship will be May 23-27 at Fluor Field in Greenville, S.C.

2012 SoCon Preseason All-Conference Team

First Team

SP Chris Beck, Georgia Southern

SP Christian Powell, College of Charleston

RP Lex Rutledge, Samford

C Trevor Edwards, UNCG

1B Saxon Butler, Samford

2B Ross Heffley, Western Carolina

SS Eric Phillips, Georgia Southern

3B Drew DeKerlegand, The Citadel

OF Victor Roache, Georgia Southern

OF Daniel Aldrich, College of Charleston

OF Phillip Ervin, Samford

DH Daniel Kassouf, Appalachian State

Second Team

SP Ryan Arrowood, Appalachian State

SP Josh Renfro, College of Charleston

RP David Port, Appalachian State

C Alex Swim, Elon

1B Konstantine Diamaduros, Wofford

2B Sebastian Gomez, Elon

SS Aaron Attaway, Western Carolina

3B Zack Briggs, Appalachian State

3B (tie) Alex Abrams, Furman

OF Marty Gantt, College of Charleston

OF Nick Orvin, The Citadel

OF Tyler Zupcic, Appalachian State

DH Taylor Johnson, Furman

Player of the Year – Victor Roache, Jr., OF, Georgia Southern

Pitcher of the Year – Chris Beck, Jr., RHP, Georgia Southern

(photo courtesy of Georgia Southern Media Relations Office)