Pirates place two on preseason all-C-USA team

Published 5:48 pm Friday, February 1, 2013

IRVING, Texas – East Carolina juniors Jack Reinheimer (SS) and Drew Reynolds (INF/RHP) have been named preseason First-Team All-Conference USA, as chosen by the league’s nine head coaches.
Reinheimer was the lone Pirate to start all 61 games last season, posting a .294 batting average with 36 runs scored. He was second on the team in stolen bases (9) and third in doubles (11), while adding a pair of home runs and 22 RBI. The Charlotte, N.C. native belted his first career home run on the first pitch of the season against Milwaukee and three games later smacked his second at Old Dominion.
Reynolds, a finalist for the 2012 John Olerud Two-Way Player-of-the-Year Award, ranked second on the team with a .330 batting average in 54 games. He started 48 games as the Pirates designated hitter, where he belted three home runs, drove in 24 and scored 31 runs. On the mound, he led the team with 10 saves posting a 3-0 record in 21 appearances and sporting a 3.00 ERA. The junior utility man earned Second-Team All C-USA honors and closed out the season ranking among the league leaders in saves (fourth) and batting average (10th).
Conference USA’s 18th baseball season gets underway on February 15. The conference tournament is scheduled for May 22-26 in Houston, Texas. C-USA’s nine baseball schools have produced 72 NCAA appearances and 10 College World Series teams over the past 17 seasons.

2013 PRESEASON BASEBALL AWARDS
(as selected by C-USA’s head coaches)
PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH
1. Rice (7)
2. Southern Miss (1)
3. East Carolina
4. UCF
5. Tulane (1)
6. Memphis
7. Houston
8. UAB
9. Marshall
(first place votes in parentheses)
PLAYER-OF-THE-YEAR
Christian Stringer, Rice (Senior, Infielder)
PITCHER-OF-THE-YEAR
Austin Kubitza, Rice (Junior, Right-hander)
ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
P – Austin Kubitza – Jr. – Rice
P – Sam Moll – Jr. – Memphis
P – Andrew Pierce – Sr. – Southern Miss
RP – Bradley Roney – So. – Southern Miss
C – Ryan Breen – Sr. – UCF
IF – Garrett Cannizaro – Sr. – Tulane
IF – Brennan Middleton – Sr. – Tulane
IF – Jack Reinheimer – Jr. – East Carolina
IF – Christian Stringer – Sr. – Rice
IF – Chris Taladay – Sr. – UCF
OF – Landon Appling – Jr. – Houston
OF – Brandon Boudreaux – Sr. – Tulane
OF – Michael Ratterree – Sr. – Rice