CONWAY, S.C. – Coastal Carolina baseball's
Eric Brown was named the Preseason Sun Belt Player of the Year by D1Baseball, as a total of 13 total Chanticleers were listed among the top prospects and impact freshmen in the Sun Belt Conference for 2022.
A 2021 All-Sun Belt second-team selection, Brown is the leading returner from the Chants' team a year ago in which he played in and started 50 games overall at shortstop. He was second on the team in hitting at .294 on the year with a team-high nine home runs, 12 doubles, and 38 RBIs. He also posted a team-high .513 slugging percentage, a .413 on-base percentage, and was second on the team with 11 stolen bases. His 42 runs scored were second on the team and seventh in the Sun Belt for the year, while he also led the team and was tied for the conference lead in walks with 33.
On top of being named the preseason Player of the Year, Brown was also ranked the top prospect in the Sun Belt Conference for the Class of 2022 by D1Baseball. He was earned both honors by Perfect Game earlier this month.
Brown was joined on that list by right-handed pitcher
Michael Knorr (No. 3), infielder
Matt McDermott (No. 20), left-handed pitcher
Reid VanScoter (No. 21), infielder
Cooper Weiss (No. 23), outfielder
Austin White (No. 28), right-handed pitcher
Reece Maniscalco (No. 31), right-handed pitcher
Teddy Sharkey (No. 33), and right-handed pitcher
Jack Billings (No. 40).
Ranked for the Chants for the Class of 2023 were right-handed pitcher
Riley Eikhoff (No. 5) and right-handed pitcher
Luke Barrow (No. 7), while freshman infielder
Orlando Pena (No. 8) and freshman catcher
Derek Bender (No. 15) were both named to the list of impact freshmen.
The Chanticleers will open up the 2022 season with the annual Baseball at the Beach event on Feb. 18-21 at Springs Brooks Stadium.
For complete coverage of CCU sports, follow the Chants on social media @GoCCUsports (Twitter), facebook.com/CCUChanticleers (Facebook), @GoCCUsports (Instagram), or visit the official home of Coastal Carolina Athletics at www.GoCCUsports.com.
