CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) – Defending champion Campbell University has been voted the Big South Conference’s preseason baseball favorite by the league’s head coaches, it was announced today by the conference office. In addition, the coaches voted Campbell redshirt-junior outfielder Matthew Barefoot (Dunn, N.C.) the conference’s Preseason Player of the Year and High Point senior Andrew Gottfried (Coral Springs, Fla.) the league’s Preseason Pitcher of the Year.
The Camels, last year’s regular-season champion, received six first-place votes and 86 total points to win the league in 2019. Campbell is coming off a 35-26 season in 2018 and won the Big South with a 21-6 conference mark. CU welcomes back five overall starters, five position players and 11 pitchers this season.
High Point received two first-place votes and was second in the preseason poll with 85 points, while Winthrop and Radford each received one first-place vote and tied for the third spot with 80 points. Gardner-Webb was fifth with 60 points, with Charleston Southern in the sixth spot with 42 points. Presbyterian College landed in the seventh position (36 points), Longwood garnered eighth-place (35 points), followed by new member USC Upstate (ninth, 22 points) and UNC Asheville (10th, 21 points).
Barefott is the second Campbell player to be voted the Big South’s Preseason Player of the Year in the award’s 14-year history, as Michael Felton was the first in 2013. The 2018 Big South Tournament MVP and First-Team All-Big South honoree, Barefoot claimed the Big South batting crown last season with a .364 average. He led Campbell in 10 offensive categories, and was the league leader in on-base percentage (.484), hits (79), doubles (18) and stolen bases (33). In addition, Barefott was second in the conference in slugging (.585), runs (58), total bases (127) and hit by pitches (23). His 23 HBP ranked sixth in the country, while his steals total was 10th nationally. In Big South games, he finished second in the league with a .394 batting clip and a .677 slugging percentage. Barefoot received seven first-place votes and 24 points in the preseason voting, ahead of Presbyterian’s Jonathan White, who placed second with 13 points (one first-place vote).
Gottfried is the first High Point Panther to be voted Big South Preseason Pitcher of the Year since the award’s inception in 2007. He was a First-Team All-Conference selection in 2018, and had the third-lowest ERA in the conference last year at 3.28 — the lowest of any returning pitcher in 2019. The righty struck out 72 batters in comparison to just 20 walks issued (3.60 K/BB), while his .221 BAA in conference-play was the lowest of any pitcher currently on a Big South roster. Gottfried won four of his seven Big South decisions, with a 2.96 ERA and 35 Ks in 48.2 innings. He received five first-place votes and 22 total points in this year’s preseason voting, ahead of Radford’s Zach Ridgely (17 points and two first-place votes), and Winthrop’s Zach Peek (15 points and three first-place votes).
The 2019 Big South baseball season begins Friday, Feb. 15, while the first conference meeting is set for the weekend of March 15-17. The 2019 Big South Baseball Championship is slated for May 21-25, and the nine-team postseason tournament will be played at the new Fayetteville Ballpark in Fayetteville, N.C.
2019 Big South Conference Preseason Baseball Poll
| Rk – Team (first-place votes) | Points |
| 1 – Campbell (6) | 86 |
| 2 – High Point (2) | 85 |
| T-3 – Winthrop (1) | 80 |
| T-3 – Radford (1) | 80 |
| 5 – Gardner-Webb | 60 |
| 6 – Charleston Southern | 42 |
| 7 – Presbyterian College | 36 |
| 8 – Longwood | 35 |
| 9 – USC Upstate | 22 |
| 10 – UNC Asheville | 21 |
Note: points are based on a weighted system, with first-place votes receiving 10 points, followed by 9 points for second-place, and so on.
