Frisbee and Moritz Named Pitcher and Player of the Year; Six Earn All-SoCon Honors
Frisbee and Moritz Named Pitcher and Player of the Year; Six Earn All-SoCon Honors
SPARTANBURG, S.C. â?? Junior pitcher Matt Frisbee and junior outfielder Andrew Moritz were selected as the Southern Conferenceâ??s Pitcher and Player of the Year, respectively, for their performances on the field this season. This is first SoCon Player of the Year in school history and third Pitcher of the Year in the SoCon Sports Media Association (SCSMA) poll. The Spartans won the SoCon Regular Season Championship for the first time in school history, posting an 18-3 league mark, good for a .857 winning percentage. That percentage is the highest for the SoCon Regular Season Champion since 2005 when College of Charleston finished 27-3 with a .900 winning percentage.

Moritz led the league in average, hitting .421, second in the nation behind Niagaraâ??s Greg Cullen. He led the SoCon in on-base percentage and set a school record with 10 triples this season. He owns the school and SoCon career triples record, hitting 23 during his three-year career. He is tied for the SoCon lead with 55 RBI while recording 83 hits, scored 52 runs and hit five home runs. In league play, Moritz hit for a .414 average with 31 RBI. This is the first time a Spartan has earned Player of the Year in either the coaches or media polls.

Frisbee ranks in the top 10 in the SoCon in every major pitching category and tied for the league lead with 10 wins. He finished the regular season a perfect 10-0 with six wins coming in league play. His 10 total wins is third-best in the country. Heâ??s thrown a total of 83.2 innings, struck out a team-high 107 hitters, walked just 23 and held opponents to a .232 average. Frisbee struck out 11 or more hitters three times this season and eight or more on seven occasions. He twice struck out a career-high 13 hitters and tossed his third career complete game in a victory over Lipscomb. Against SoCon opponents, he was second in the league with 60 strikeouts, posted a 3.45 ERA and held opponents go a .246 average. This is the first time that UNCG has had a Pitcher of the Year selected by the leagueâ??s coaches and the third time UNCG has had a Pitcher of the Year in the leagueâ??s media poll.

The Spartans placed a league-high four on the first team and added two on the second team for six total All-SoCon selections. Joining the Moritz and Frisbee on the first team are second baseman Austin Embler and third baseman Caleb Webster. Relief pitcher Andrew Wantz and Cesar Trejo were named to both the coaches and mediaâ??s second team.

Embler has been UNCGâ??s lead off man all season, hitting at a .352 average with 16 extra-base hits. Heâ??s hit 13 doubles and a home run while driving in 30 and scoring 51 runs. Earlier this season, Embler had a hit in 21-straight games, tying the programâ??s second-best hitting streak.

Webster has hit in the two-spot of the lineup all year, starting all 50 games. Heâ??s connected on nine extra-base hits with six doubles and a pair of home runs. This season heâ??s hitting at a .381 average, third-best in the SoCon, scored 46 runs and driven in 33.

Trejo is third on the team with a .367 average, fifth-best in the league, adding 25 extra-base hits with at team-high 15 doubles. Heâ??s added six triples and four home runs to go with 46 RBI and has scored 35 runs. He leads the team with 21 stolen bases. This season Trejo had a 20-game hit streak, tying for the third-longest streak in program history.

Wantz earned his third career All-SoCon honor, having been named First Team All-SoCon and was the SCSMAâ??s Co-Pitcher of the Year during his sophomore season and was named SoCon All-Freshman during his rookie season. Wantz owns a 6-0 record with a 2.52 ERA and is tied with teammate Jack Maynard for the second-most saves in the SoCon with nine. His strikeouts per nine innings pitched ratio ranks eighth in the nation and second in the SoCon. In league play, Wantz has made nine appearances, earning a 3-0 record with three saves while posting a 0.40 ERA. Heâ??s worked 22.1 innings, striking out 34 hitters.

2018 SoCon Baseball Coaches All-Southern Conference Teams

Player of the Year â?? Andrew Moritz, Jr., OF, UNCG

Pitcher of the Year â?? Matt Frisbee, Jr., RHP, UNCG

Freshman of the Year â?? RJ Yeager, Fr., IF, Mercer

Coach of the Year â?? Link Jarrett, UNCG

First team

SP Matt Frisbee, UNCG

SP Samuel Strickland, Samford

RP Robert Broom, Mercer

C Peyton Maddox, VMI

1B Christian Bailey, ETSU

2B Austin Embler, UNCG

SS Chris Cook, ETSU

3B Caleb Webster, UNCG

OF Ben Anderson, Furman

OF Andrew Moritz, UNCG