FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 2, 2008
Contact:  Dwayne Hanberry, SCAC Interim Commissioner

SCAC ANNOUNCES 2008 ALL-TOURNAMENT BASEBALL TEAM

DANVILLE, Ky. – On the heels of one of the most amazing championship game finishes in conference history, the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference releases its 2008 All-Tournament baseball team.

After Millsaps College forced a decisive second game against Trinity University in the SCAC title game on Sunday with a 10-5 win in the opener, junior shortstop Stosh Hoover delivered a two-out, two-RBI double to right-center in the bottom of the ninth to cap a four-run ninth inning and propel the top-seeded Tigers into the NCAA Tournament.

Hoover, who hit .389 with four doubles, a triple, five RBI and two runs scored during the tourney, is one of four Trinity players to earn all-tournament honors. Senior catcher Zach Fregosi, junior second baseman Jeff Claydon and senior right-hander Brian Oates join Hoover on the team, which was selected by the participating coaches at the event. Oates went 10.0 innings and allowed just one run while striking out 13 in Saturday’s 3-1, 11-inning victory over DePauw that propelled Trinity into Sunday’s championship game.

Millsaps had a tourney-high seven players selected to the team – which ties for the second-most players from one school to make the team since the coaches started selecting an all-tournament team in 1998.

Among those seven is junior outfielder Hunter Owen, who tied a SCAC tournament record with 12 hits. He finished with a .600 batting average with two doubles, three home runs, seven RBI and 11 runs scored. His three home runs gave him 16 for the season – a new Millsaps single-season record (third-most in SCAC history). Senior shortstop Hunter Abrams, with 10 hits during the tournament, moved to 240 career hits – the most in school history (sixth in SCAC history). Junior centerfielder and left-handed pitcher Tait Hendrix became one of only six pitchers to toss at least nine innings in the SCAC tournament and not give up an earned run. He is also just the second player in SCAC history to earn a spot on the team as both a position player and as a pitcher (Bryan Jones of Southwestern pulled off the feat at the 2002 tournament).

Owen and Abrams are holdovers from last year's all-tourney team. Abrams also made the team as a freshman in 2005. DePauw's senior outfielder Matt Kleine made the team for the second time in his career (2006).