Jan. 30, 2013

click here for coaches' C-USA preseason poll

Stringer, Kubitza lead C-USA preseason awards

Christian Stringer of preseason favorite Rice was named Preseason Player of the Year and teammate Austin Kubitza (left) was selected as Preseason Pitcher of the Year in Conference USA, in voting by the league’s head coaches as released by the conference office.

Stringer batted .343 in 59 starts a season ago, including .389 in conference contests. He had 81 hits, 58 runs and an on-base percentage of .448. The second baseman registered a fielding percentage of .978 and participated in 35 of the Owls’ 46 double plays.

Kubitza went 6-5 in 2012 and was second on the team with 80.1 innings, 73 strikeouts and 2.69 ERA. He logged 15 starts and held opponents to a .211 batting average.

Rice, Southern Miss and Tulane each had three players on the Preseason All-Conference USA Team.

The 2013 campaign begins on Friday, Feb. 15, with conference play kicking off the weekend of March 22-24, with Southern Illinois visiting Indiana State and Creighton at Evansville. The C-USA Championship will be held at Rice’s Reckling Park in Houston, Texas. The eight-team tournament will be held from May 22-26.

2013 Preseason All-C-USA Team

Preseason Player of the Year: Christian Stringer, Rice

Preseason Pitcher of the Year: Austin Kubitza, Rice

Pos. Name, Class, School

P Austin Kubitza, Jr., Rice
P Sam Moll, Jr., Memphis
P Andrew Pierce, Sr., Southern Miss
RP Bradley Roney, So., Southern Miss
C Ryan Breen, Sr., UCF
IF Garrett Cannizaro, Sr., Tulane
IF Brennan Middleton, Sr., Tulane
IF Jack Reinheimer, Jr., East Carolina
IF Christian Stringer, Sr., Rice
IF Chris Taladay, Sr., UCF
OF Landon Appling, Jr., Houston
OF Brandon Boudreaux, Sr., Tulane
OF Michael Ratterree, Sr., Rice
OF Mason Robbins, So., Southern Miss
DH/UT Drew Reynolds, Jr., East Carolina
 

(photo courtesy of Rice Media Relations Office)