LITTLE ROCK – Little Rock senior relief pitcher
Justin Garcia has been named a first team All-Sun Belt Conference selection, announced today by the league office. It is the first all-conference honor for Garcia, who has already etched his named into the Trojan record book.
Garcia provided a steady presence in late innings for the Little Rock bullpen, appearing in a program-record 34 games in 2018. Filling the role as the Trojan closer, Garcia notched 10 saves for Little Rock, second-most in a season in program history and tying for the most in the Sun Belt.
The Colleyville, Texas native ranked fourth in the Sun Belt in ERA among qualifying pitchers at 3.05, holding opponents to a .199 batting average, ranking second in the conference. Where he was at his most effective was striking out the opposition, doing so 76 times on the year, ranking 11th in the conference, while pitching just 56.0 innings. Garcia ranked 20th nationally in strikeouts per nine innings, averaging 12.21 in 2018.
"It's a very deserving honor for Justin," said head coach
Chris Curry. "No one has thrown in bigger innings and gotten out of more jams in two years since I've been here, and probably in a long time in the history of this program, than
Justin Garcia. What you love about him, even more than his ability to pitch, is the outstanding leadership he displays. He comes early, stays late, and goes above and beyond what you ask of him as a coach. There is no way we would have experienced the amount of success we've had this year without being able to hand the ball to him late in a game."
For his Little Rock career, Garcia appeared in 67 games, registering a 3.04 ERA in 97.2 innings pitched with 132 career strikeouts. His name currently is scattered throughout the Trojan record book, ranking tied for third in career appearances (67) and fourth in both career ERA (3.04) and saves (12) while earning the distinction as the program's all-time leader in strikeouts per nine innings (12.16).
Garcia was named the Sun Belt Conference Pitcher of the Week on March 20 after helping pace the Trojans to a victory over nationally-ranked Louisiana Tech and a series victory on the road at Troy. His performances earned him recognition not just at the conference level, but nationally as well, as he was a nominee for the Senior CLASS award and was named to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year midseason watch list.
With his all-conference honor, Garcia becomes the 35th different Trojan to earn All-Sun Belt honors, marking the 39th honor for the program since joining the conference in 1992. He becomes the 19th Trojan to be named a first team All-Sun Belt performer and the first since Ryan Scott and Dalton Thomas in 2016.
Garcia now looks to add to his career totals this week as the Trojans head to Lafayette, Louisiana, for the 2018 Sun Belt Conference tournament. Little Rock, the number seven overall seed, will face 10th-seeded Georgia State on Tuesday, May 22 at 3 p.m. in a single-elimination play-in game. Coverage of the tournament is available at
ESPN+ along with Twitter updates throughout the tournament
@LittleRockBSB.
#LittleRocksTeam
