Scott Named Sun Belt SAOY, Curry Named Sun Belt COY

SAN MARCOS, Texas – Little Rock baseball took home multiple awards on Tuesday night, headlined by Ryan Scott earning Sun Belt Student-Athlete of the Year and head coach Chris Curry being named the Ron Maestri Coach of the Year. Scott, Dalton Thomas and Hayden Martin each earned All-Sun Belt honors.
 
Scott was named Student-Athlete of the Year and to the All-Sun Belt First Team after a record-breaking regular season for the Trojans. Thomas took First Team honors while Martin earned Second Team.
 
Curry becomes the second Little Rock coach in program history to earn Sun Belt Coach of the Year honors. In just his second season as a Division I head coach, Curry led Little Rock to a new program record for conference wins (17). He also helped the Trojans earn their best regular-season Sun Belt finish in program history as Little Rock placed third.
 
Scott is just the second Trojan ever to garner SBC Student-Athlete of the Year honors. He finished the regular season with the second-best batting average in the nation at .433 while also leading the Sun Belt in seven different offensive categories including runs (54), total bases (146), slugging percentage (.702), hits (90), on-base percentage (.514) and RBIs (63). Scott is a semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy, the Gregg Olson Award and is on the Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List. Scott broke the Little Rock single-season record for hits and the program's all-time doubles record.
 
Thomas finished the regular season with the second-best batting average behind Scott at .386. In conference play, he led the league with 51 hits, 88 total bases, 134 at-bats, tied for the most RBIs with 38 and tied for the most home runs with eight. For the year, Thomas tallied 86 hits, 52 RBIs, 19 doubles, 134 total bases, 46 runs, a .601 slugging percentage, a .426 on-base percentage and nine home runs.
 
Martin ended the regular-season with the ninth-best batting average in the conference at .324. He led the Sun Belt and broke a program record for sacrifice bunts with 15 while also breaking the Little Rock all-time record with 26. Martin was the best fielding second baseman in conference play as he recorded a near-perfect fielding percentage of .990.
 
All three earn All-Sun Belt honors for the first time in their careers after not being selected for any preseason honors.

The Trojans will begin action in the Sun Belt Tournament on Wednesday at 9 a.m. against No. 6 seed Georgia Southern.
 
All-Sun Belt Baseball First Team
Gunner Leger (UL Lafayette, Sophomore, SP)
Kevin Hill (South Alabama, RS-Senior, SP)
Grant Bennett (Troy, Senior, SP)
Dylan Moore (UL Lafayette, Sophomore, RP)
Brady Cox (UT Arlington, Junior, C)
Tanner Hill (Texas State, Senior, 1B)
Darien McLemore (UT Arlington, Senior, 2B)
Drew LaBounty (South Alabama, RS-Sophomore, SS)
Tanner Ring (Arkansas State, Senior, 3B)
Ryan Scott (Little Rock, Senior, OF)
Kyle Clement (UL Lafayette, Senior, OF)
Cole Billingsley (South Alabama, RS-Junior, OF)
Cory Geisler (Texas State, Senior, UTIL)
Dalton Thomas (Little Rock, Junior, DH)
 
All-Sun Belt Baseball Second Team
Evan Challenger (Georgia Southern, Junior, SP)
Kadon Simmons (UT Arlington, Junior, SP)
Lucas Brown (Troy, Senior, SP)
Pasquale Mazzoccoli (Texas State, Senior, RP)
Joey Roach (Georgia State, Senior, C)
Ryan Cleveland (Georgia Southern, Junior, 1B)
Hayden Martin (Little Rock, Senior, 2B)
Matt Vernon (Appalachian State, Junior, SS)
Jarrett Hood (Georgia State, Junior, 3B)
Quintin Rohrbaugh (UT Arlington, Junior, OF)
Granger Studdard (Texas State, Junior, OF)
Joey Denison (Troy, Junior, OF)
Joe Schrimpf (Arkansas State, Junior, UTIL)
Colton Turner (UT Arlington, Junior, DH)
 
Sun Belt Baseball Student-Athlete of the Year
Ryan Scott (Little Rock, Senior, OF)
 
Sun Belt Baseball Pitcher of the Year
Kevin Hill (South Alabama, RS-Senior, SP)
 
Sun Belt Baseball Freshman of the Year
Nick Lee (UL Lafayette, Freshman, SP)
 
Sun Belt Baseball Ron Maestri Coach of the Year
Chris Curry, Little Rock