TROY, Ala.?ULM's Ben Soignier
was named to the All-Sun Belt Conference First Team and Boomer Blanchard was
named the league's Newcomer of the Year, the conference announced Tuesday night.
Blanchard and Jon Prevost were also named to the All-Sun Belt Second Team.
Soignier, who was also named
to the first team last season, leads the Warhawks with a .374 batting average,
19 doubles, 65 RBIs and a .481 on-base percentage. Soignier becomes the first
ULM player in nearly 40 years to earn first team all-conference honors three
times (he was a first team All-Southland Conference selection in 2006). Tom
Brown (1968, 69, 71) was the last Warhawk player to accomplish the feat.
The senior All-American has
become ULM's all-time leader in doubles, total bases and at-bats this season. He
is just six hits away from tying the ULM career record and is also just two RBIs
away from tying the single-season mark set last season by Dexter Fontenot.
Blanchard, a transfer from
LSU-Eunice, is just behind Soignier batting at a .359 clip. The junior from New
Iberia, La., leads the Warhawks with 80 hits and 67 runs scored and is second
on the club with 12 home runs and 11 stolen bases.
He becomes the first ULM
player since Soignier was named Southland Conference Freshman of the Year in
2006 to earn a player of the year award. Blanchard ranks fourth on the ULM
single-season runs scored list and eighth on the hits list. He is just outside
the top 10 in at-bats, home runs and total bases.
Prevost leads ULM with 14 home
runs, 19 stolen bases and a .620 slugging percentage. The senior from Montreal,
Canada, has also been hit by a team-high 13 pitches and drawn 33 walks to post
an impressive .459 on-base percentage.
The senior is batting .346 on
the season which pushes his career average to .337 ? just .001 outside of the
career top 10. Prevost's 62 runs scored and 14 homers this season rank eighth
best in a single-season in school history.
Middle Tennessee's Bryce
Brentz was named Player of the Year, Western Kentucky's Matt Hightower was
named Pitcher of the Year, Troy's Tyler Ray was named Freshman of the Year and
Western Kentucky's Chris Finwood was named Coach of the Year.
Soignier, Blanchard and
Prevost will look to help lead ULM to a Sun Belt Conference Tournament
championship beginning Wednesday at 4 p.m. against second-seeded Western
Kentucky. The Warhawks, who are the seven-seed, enter the eight-team,
double-elimination tournament after winning a pair against Houston Baptist last
weekend.
All
of ULM's Sun Belt Conference Tournament games will be broadcast live on 1680 AM
in the Monroe area and worldwide on the internet at ulmathletics.com. Fans can
also watch all of the action on Sun Belt Extra by logging on to
sunbeltsports.org.
2009 All-Sun
Belt Conference Baseball First Team
SP ? Kenneth Roberts
Middle Tennessee; Matt Hightower WKU
RP ? Coty Woods,
Middle Tennessee
C ? David Doss,
South Alabama
1B ? Mike
Martinez, FIU
2B ? Ryan Mollica,
FIU
SS ? Ben
Soignier, ULM
3B ? Wade Gaynor,
WKU
OF ? Tyler
Townsend, FIU; Bryce Brentz, Middle Tennessee; Chad Cregar, WKU
DH ? Tim Jobe, FIU
U ? Michael
Precise, Troy
2009 All-Sun
Belt Conference Baseball Second Team
SP ? Tom Ebert,
FIU; Matt Ridings, WKU
RP ? Chris Sorce,
Troy
C ? Drew
Robertson, Middle Tennessee
1B ? Ryan
Ditthardt, Troy
2B ? Boomer
Blanchard, ULM
SS ? Terrence
Dayleg, WKU
3B ? Rawley
Bishop, Middle Tennessee
OF ? Jon Prevost, ULM; Nathan Hines, Middle
Tennessee; Adam Heisler, South Alabama
DH ? Scott
Hawkins, Louisiana-Lafayette
U ? Murray Watts,
Arkansas State
Player of the
Year ?
Bryce Brentz, Middle Tennessee
Pitcher of the
Year ?
Matt Hightower, WKU
Freshman of
the Year ?
Tyler Ray, Troy
Newcomer of
the Year ? Boomer Blanchard, ULM
Coach of the
Year ?
Chris Finwood, WKU
Schedule of Events
Tuesday, May 19
Sun Belt Family Night/Home Run Derby 6 p.m.
Wednesday, May 20
9 a.m. - Game 1 - No. 4 Florida International vs. No. 5 Louisiana-Lafayette
12:30 p.m. - Game 2 - No. 1 Middle Tennessee vs. No. 8 Florida Atlantic
4 p.m. - Game 3 - No. 2 Western Kentucky vs. No. 7 ULM
7:30 p.m. - Game 4 - No. 3 Troy vs. No. 6 South Alabama
Thursday, May 21
9 a.m. - Game 5 - G1 Loser vs. G2 Loser
12:30 p.m. - Game 6 - G3 Loser vs. G4 Loser
4 p.m. - Game 7 - G1 Winner vs. G2 Winner
7:30 p.m. - Game 8 - G3 Winner vs. G4 Winner
Friday, May 22
9 a.m. - Game 9 - G7 Loser vs. G5 Winner
12:30 p.m. - Game 10 - G8 Loser vs. G6 Winner
4 p.m. - Game 11 - G7 Winner vs. G9 Winner
7:30 p.m. - Game 12 - G8 Winner vs. G10 Winner
Saturday, May 23
* Game 13 will be necessary if the winner of Game 9 also wins Game 11.
* Game 14 will be necessary if the winner of Game 10 also wins Game 12.
Championship Game ? TBA
