Seven Baseball Players Named SCAC All-Conference
CLEBURNE, Texas – On Saturday the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) announced its 2019 All-Conference Baseball Teams and major postseason awards. The University of Dallas baseball team had seven players – the second highest behind the eight total in 2013 – earn laurels. Among the septet were two members, Jordan Stickler (Grand Rapids, Mich.) and Nathan Patton (McKinney, Texas), that notched an all-conference honor for the third straight year.
Highlighting the group was Conrad Voss (Corona, Calif.) on the First Team All-SCAC as one-of-three pitchers. The junior lefthander led the Crusaders pitching staff with a career-high 73.1 innings pitched. He started all 12 games and garnered an 8-4 record that helped him lead the SCAC in wins. He struck out exactly 50 batters (7th SCAC), which was another personal-best. Voss logged five innings or more in 11 outings and went six innings or more in 10 of them. This included a pair of seven-inning complete games and a season-long eight at Schreiner University (Apr. 13). Voss threw six quality starts and had a 4.42 ERA. He was better on the road – going unbeaten at 6-0 with a 2.08 ERA in true road games. Voss also had exactly 25 strikeouts against conference and non-conference foes. He did win SCAC Pitcher of the Week (Week 4).
Stickler and Luke Boylson were selected among five outfielders for the All-SCAC Second Team. Patton was tabbed on that same team for third base. Josh Abalos (Lewisville, Texas), Jessup Scott (Lewiston, Idaho), and Andrew Magness (San Antonio, Texas) rounded out the UD list of awards with All-SCAC Honorable Mentions.
Stickler made it to the second team for the second time in his career (last done in 2017). He was an honorable mention in 2018. Stickler batted .298 and led the Crusaders in scoring with 42 runs (T-3rd in SCAC) and swiped a career-high 34 stolen bases in 37 chances. He was the league leader for base thefts and finished second all-time in the Dallas program with 82. Stickler drew 32 walks (4th in SCAC) to eclipse 30 for the third straight season as a regular starter and pushed his career mark to 98.
Boylson logged 35 hits in 132 at bats to post a .265 batting average. He powered a team-high and personal-best five home runs (T-9th in SCAC) to go with seven doubles (T-2nd on UD) and 24 RBI (3rd on UD). His fielding percentage was .981 with four assists and four putouts to go with just one error. Boylson made several highlight reel catches, including a huge grab into the wall the Senior Day weekend series versus Southwestern University.
Patton missed the first eight games to start the spring season but would still push towards the top of the team leaderboard in several offensive categories. He batted .330 with 34 hits, six doubles, a triple, three home runs, and team-leading 34 RBI. His 29 walks were second on the squad were a personal-most along with his trio of long balls. He scored 21 runs (3rd on UD), which was just behind the top two hitters in the lineup, Stickler and Abalos. The number three hitter carried a season-long, six-game hit streak and notched 10 multi-hit games that included a 4-4 at Centenary College (Mar. 22). For Patton's career, he has tallied 136 hits (10th in UD) and 99 RBI.
Abalos batted north of .300 for the first time of his four-year career with a .303-clip thanks to a personal-best 40 hits. His previous high mark was his freshman campaign (36). Abalos added three doubles and a triple, while driving in a career-best 17 runs. He matched his total base knocks output with a career-most 40 runs (2nd on UD). He joined Stickler for second in the conference and team in stolen bases with a personal-high 28 (previous high was 12 for consecutive years). Abalos was more successful getting caught just once. The aggressive baserunning helped Abalos increase his overall total to 63, which tied fourth all-time for the program. The second baseman also drew 24 free passes for a personal-best. He was selected the final week of the regular season as SCAC Hitter of the Week.
Scott was a fixture in the heart of the order this season for the Crusaders, as he slashed a .309/.401/.431 to lead an improved season in his second one with Dallas. He blasted a pair of home runs for his firsts with the team and knocked in a career-high 27 RBI (2nd on UD). The catcher tallied a hit in 26 of the 37 games played to go with a personal-high seven doubles (T-2nd on UD). Scott increased his total walks (18) by three from a year ago and cut down on his strikeouts (14) by nine. Scott's most notable performance was a game-tying two-run shot against No. 5 Texas Lutheran University (Mar. 31). He eventually snuck the hit through the right side that led to the walk-off upset.
Magness was the only player selected from Dallas in this group that was not a junior or senior in athletic eligibility. The left-handed starter matched his freshman season in appearances with 10. Instead of being in relief in all-but one outing like 2018, Magness toed the rubber at the start of nine games this spring. He picked up his first win in a start for his career to cap the spring at Austin College (Apr. 28). Magness totaled 53.2 innings and was 1-3. He fanned 45 and allowed 28 of his 38 runs to be earned (4.70). Magness tossed his best performance of his career in the TLU victory on Mar. 31. After going a career-long nine innings for his first complete game in regulation, the Crusaders would pull the upset off in the 12th inning against the top-five opponent. Magness fanned eight for a personal-high in that impressive start.
Dallas improved to 18 wins on the season, which was the highest total since 2013 claimed 20. It was Head Coach Erik Grafton that led the team to this mark in his first season, which also included a 10-4 start that was the best since 2012.
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