HobbsDailyReport.com
BOWMAN/WCU PHOTO
CULLOWHEE – Bryson Bowman, a former star at South Caldwell High and Catawba Valley Community College, has been named the Southern Conference Player of the Year in baseball.
Bowman, a red-shirt senior outfielder at Western Carolina, shared the league’s top honor with shortstop Ryan Hagan of Mercer in a vote by conference coaches. Bowman won the POY award from the SoCon Sports Media Association (SCSMA) and was a first-team all-league outfielder in picks by the coaches and the media.
Selections were announced on Monday – in advance of the conference tournament – and WCU is the No. 2 seed (28-26, 15-8) with an opening-round game on Wednesday at 4 p.m. against No. 7 seed East Tennessee State (27-27, 9-15) in Greenville, S.C.
Bowman is WCU’s 16th player to claim Player of the Year. He entered the season as a preseason All-SoCon honoree and a three-time preseason All-America selection.
He ranks in the individual top 10 in the SoCon in 10 total offensive categories, leading the league in on-base percentage (.475) and RBIs (59).
Bowman has a team-best 16 multi-RBI games, while his team-leading .389 batting average ranks third in the SoCon. He finished the regular season second in slugging percentage (.635) and total bases (134).
He has a chance to win Western Carolina’s Triple Crown as the team leader in batting average, RBIs and home runs.
During the regular season, Bowman reached base in 42 consecutive games, which included a WCU-record 27-game hitting streak. He had hits in 48 of WCU’s 54 regular season games and reached base in 53 of those 54.
Bowman was the SoCon Player of the Month for April.
SOURCE: Western Carolina Sports Information
SOUTHERN CONFERENCE BASEBALL TOURNAMENT
(at Fluor Field in Greenville, S.C.)
Tuesday
Game 1: No. 8 Citadel vs. No. 9 VMI, 10 a.m.
Wednesday
Game 2: No. 5 Wofford vs. No. 4 Furman, 9 a.m.
Game 3: Tuesday winner vs. No. 1 Mercer, 12:30 p.m.
Game 4: No. 7 ETSU vs. No. 2 Western Carolina, 4 p.m.
Game 5: No. 6 Samford vs. No. 3 UNC Greensboro, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday
Game 6: Loser Game 2 vs. Loser Game 3, 9 a.m.
Game 7: Loser Game 4 vs. Loser Game 5, 12:30 p.m.
Game 8: Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 3, 4 p.m.
Game 9: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5, 7:30 p.m.
Friday
Game 10: Winner Game 7 vs. Loser Game 8, 3:30 p.m.
Game 11: Loser Game 9 vs. Winner Game 6, 7 p.m.
Saturday
Game 12: Winner Game 8 vs. Winner Game 9, noon
Game 13: Winner Game 11 vs. Winner Game 10, 3:30 p.m.
Game 14: Loser Game 12 vs. Winner Game 13, 7 p.m.
Sunday
Game 15: Winner Game 12 vs. Winner Game 14, championship, noon (ESPN3)
Game 16, if needed: 40 minutes after Game 15 ends (ESPN3)