NEW ORLEANS – Little Rock redshirt junior catcher
Kale Emshoff and senior third baseman
Garrett Scott have both been named to the 2020 Preseason All-Sun Belt Conference Baseball Team, announced today by the league office. The announcement comes in conjunction with the release of the 2020 Sun Belt preseason poll.
Emshoff will return to the Little Rock lineup in 2020 after missing the 2019 season recovering from Tommy John surgery. In 2018, Emshoff started all 56 games at catcher for the Trojans, ranking fourth on the team with a .273 batting average and a .415 slugging percentage. He tallied 33 runs and 56 hits for Little Rock, both of which ranked third on the squad, with four home runs and 26 RBI. Defensively, Emshoff posted a .988 fielding percentage and served as the anchor behind the plate.
Scott had a breakout season in 2019, playing in 50 games with 48 starts for the Trojans, playing primarily at third base after starting the season at catcher. Scott tallied a .240 batting average with 44 hits and 33 runs scored, driving in 27 with four home runs. He had nine multi-game hits on the season and drew 28 walks for a .375 on base percentage.
Additionally, Little Rock is picked to finish fourth in the Sun Belt's West Division, voted on by the league's head coaches. The Trojans picked up 39 points and one first place vote, trailing UT Arlington, Louisiana and Texas State in the division, all of which are separated by just three total points in the preseason voting.
Little Rock is coming off one of its most productive seasons in 2019, finishing with 29 wins and going 18-11 in Sun Belt play, finishing with the second-best league mark. The Trojans were a perfect 8-0 against the state of Arkansas in 2019 and earned the number three seed in the Sun Belt tournament, tying the program's best-ever seeding.
Season tickets for the 2020 Little Rock baseball season are on sale by contacting the Trojan ticket office at (501) 565-8257. Little Rock will play 26 home games at Gary Hogan Field this spring, beginning with a three-game series against NCAA regional qualifier Illinois State February 14-16.
2020 Preseason All-Sun Belt Conference Team
SP – Drake Nightengale, South Alabama
SP – Zach McCambley, Coastal Carolina
SP – Levi Thomas, Troy
C – Kale Emshoff, Little Rock
1B – Kaleb DeLatorre, South Alabama
2B – Luke Drumheller, Appalachian State
SS – Hayden Cantrelle, Louisiana
3B – Garrett Scott, Little Rock
OF – Mason McWhorter, Georgia Southern
OF – Ethan Wilson, South Alabama
OF – Rigsby Mosley, Troy
DH – Will Hollis, Texas State
UTL – Andrew Beesley, ULM
RP – Andrew Papp, Appalachian State
RP – Jack Jumper, Arkansas State
Preseason Player of the Year: Ethan Wilson, South Alabama
Preseason Pitcher of the Year: Drake Nightengale, South Alabama
2020 Preseason Sun Belt Coaches' Poll
EAST DIVISION
1. South Alabama (6) – 62 pts.
2. Coastal Carolina (4) – 61 pts.
3. Georgia Southern (2) – 50 pts.
4. Troy – 41 pts.
5. Appalachian State – 23 pts.
6. Georgia State – 15 pts.
WEST DIVISION
1. UT Arlington (3) – 58 pts.
2. Louisiana (5) – 57 pts.
3. Texas State (3) – 55 pts.
4. Little Rock (1) – 39 pts.
5. ULM – 25 pts.
6. Arkansas State – 18 pts.
#LittleRocksTeam
