DALLAS – Conference USA has announced its 2020 preseason baseball awards, as chosen by the league’s 12 head coaches. Rice junior infielder Trei Cruz has been chosen as the preseason Player of the Year, while FIU junior left-hander Logan Allen was named the preseason Pitcher of the Year. Southern Miss was chosen as the favorite to win the league’s championship. The Golden Eagles won the C-USA tournament title last season.
As a sophomore last season, Cruz earned Second Team All-Conference USA honors. One of three Owls to start all 58 games, the shortstop batted .305 with nine home runs, 11 doubles and 44 RBI. Cruz tied for 15th in the nation (second in C-USA) with six triples, the eighth-highest single season total in school history and the most by any Owl in the last decade. He also topped the team with 121 total bases (tied for sixth in the league) and 50 runs scored (tenth in conference), while placing among the C-USA leaders in at-bats (sixth) and total plate appearances (seventh). Cruz was drafted by the Washington Nationals last June, but opted to return to Rice for his third season with the Owls program.
Allen, who was named to the All-Conference USA First Team in 2019, led the league in the regular season with 120 strikeouts in 84 innings pitched (a 12.86 Ks-per-9 innings ratio that placed in the top 15 in the nation). His pitching prowess was on display when he went 32.2 innings without surrendering an earned run to start league play. Overall, Allen went 4-6 on the mound with a 3.11 ERA and held opposing batters to a .231 batting average. The left-hander also won three C-USA Pitcher of the Week honors, tied for the most in the league last season.
Over the summer, Allen dominated the Cape Cod Baseball League by striking out 24 batters over 15 scoreless innings for the Harwich Mariners before donning the Stars and Stripes to pitch for the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team in July.
While Southern Miss was selected as this year’s favorite, 2019 regular season Champion Florida Atlantic was chosen second. Both schools placed a league-high three players on the preseason All-Conference team.
The Southern Miss preseason honorees include senior right-handed starting pitcher Walker Powell, senior IF Matt Guidry and junior OF Gabe Montenegro. Powell led C-USA with a 2.72 ERA last season, posting a 6-2 record with 73 strikeouts and 13 walks in 99.1 innings pitched. Guidry had a team-high .557 on-base percentage, batting .297 with 24 extra-base hits, 47 RBI and 55 runs scored, while Montenegro led C-USA in sacrifice hits (11) and runs scored (78), batting .342 (fifth in the league) with 10 doubles and four triples.
Florida Atlantic placed a pair of infielders and one outfielder on the squad. Senior Francisco Urbaez finished sixth in C-USA in total bases (121) and eighth in hits (75), batting .322 overall with 10 home runs and 41 RBI, while also placing first in the league with 168 assists from his second base position. Redshirt junior Andru Summerall was a second team All-C-USA selection that placed sixth in the conference with 55 RBI, batting .295 with 16 doubles, eight home runs and 49 runs scored. Senior OF Bobby Morgensen paced the Owls with 11 home runs on the year (four of which came in back-to-back games at the Athens Regional), closing the year with a .312 batting average while scoring 38 runs.
Louisiana Tech was picked to finish in third place, while Old Dominion was selected fourth. The Bulldogs are represented on the preseason squad by senior IF Taylor Young, while the Monarchs feature junior pitcher Hunter Gregory. Young started all 58 games as the Bulldogs’ shortstop, batting .316 with a .443 on-base percentage, leading the team with 41 walks and was second on the team with 67 hits and 46 runs scored. Gregory had a team-best 7-3 record with a 4.05 ERA and two saves in 2019, registering a team-high 85 strikeouts and walking 24 over 60 innings pitched.
Rice and FIU were selected fifth and sixth, just ahead of WKU and UAB. The Owls and Panthers produced the preseason Player and Pitcher of the year, respectively, on the 2019 preseason team, while the Hilltoppers and Blazers also had one rep each. WKU lists senior DH Richard Constantine (.376, 4 doubles, 7 home runs, 25 RBI in 32 games played), while UAB is represented by redshirt senior OF Zack Davis (.330, 15 doubles, 3 triples, 8 homers, 48 RBI).
Rounding out the preseason poll are UTSA, Marshall, Charlotte and Middle Tennessee, respectively. Filling out the preseason All-Conference team are UTSA senior C Nick Thornquist and Charlotte senior relief pitcher Colby Bruce. Thornquist batted .315, tied for fourth in C-USA with 19 doubles, homered six times and drove in 37 runs. Bruce was a second team All C-USA choice who appeared in a team-high 25 games, posting a 2.63 ERA and eight saves, striking out 43 batters in 41.0 innings pitched.
The 2020 Conference USA baseball season begins Friday, February 14.
2020 PRESEASON BASEBALL AWARDS
(as selected by C-USA’s head coaches)
PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH
1. Southern Miss (6)
2. Florida Atlantic (4)
3. Louisiana Tech
4. Old Dominion
5. Rice (1)
6. FIU (1)
7. WKU
8. UAB
9. UTSA
10. Marshall
11. Charlotte
12. Middle Tennessee
(first place votes in parentheses)
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Trei Cruz, Rice (Junior, IF)
PITCHER OF THE YEAR
Logan Allen, FIU (Junior, LHP)
ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
SP Logan Allen Jr. FIU
SP Hunter Gregory Jr. Old Dominion
SP Walker Powell Jr. Southern Miss
RP Colby Bruce Sr. Charlotte
C Nick Thornquist Sr. UTSA
IF Trei Cruz Jr. Rice
IF Matt Guidry Sr. Southern Miss
IF Andru Summerall R-Jr. Florida Atlantic
IF Francisco Urbaez Sr. Florida Atlantic
IF Taylor Young Jr. Louisiana Tech
OF Zack Davis R-Sr. UAB
OF Bobby Morgensen Sr. Florida Atlantic
OF Gabe Montenegro Jr. Southern Miss
DH/UT Richard Constantine Sr. WKU
