Delta State’s Adrian Byrd Named GSC Pitcher of the Year; Seven Statesmen Earn All-Conference and Gold Glove Honors
Weronika Kaczmarska
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Delta State University senior left-handed pitcher Adrian Byrd has been named Gulf South Conference Pitcher of the Year, along with seven other Statesmen earning all-conference and Gold Glove honors, the conference announced Monday.
Byrd is the second consecutive Statesman to earn the GSC Pitcher of the Year award. He led the conference in several pitching categories, finishing the regular season with a 7-1 record, a 1.64 ERA, 91 strikeouts and only 22 walks. The Wiggins native held opponents to a batting average below the Mendoza line at .193. Byrd also earned first-team all-GSC recognition.
Teammate Tucker Jones, a junior outfielder from Brandon, also made the first team after leading the team with a .360 batting average, 20 extra-base hits, and 57 RBIs. Jones stole 29 bases on 29 attempts, leading the GSC in stolen bases.
Junior catcher Austin Batts, junior first baseman Levi Lang, and redshirt junior Austin Estes earned second-team all-GSC honors. Batts, from Cleveland, has a .319 batting average with seven doubles and 19 RBIs. Lang, from Judsonia, Arkansas, hit .348 with eight home runs, seven doubles and 41 RBIs, posting a .557 slugging percentage. Estes, from Piedmont, Alabama, had a .353 average, seven doubles, 26 RBIs, and stole 14 bases. He scored 46 runs, the most on the team.
On the Gold Glove team, junior second baseman Henley Parker and senior centerfielder Cade Greer were recognized. Parker, a Jackson, Missouri, native, played 29 games, starting 25, with a .973 fielding percentage, 58 assists, and 49 putouts. Greer, from Lewisburg, Alabama, played all 46 games, recording 105 putouts, an assist, and a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage.
The Statesmen will open postseason play in the Gulf South Conference for the 41st time in program history, facing UAH tomorrow at 11 a.m. (CT) at Choccolocco Park in Oxford, Alabama.
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