Senior Caleb Moore and junior Blake Church were awarded all-conference honors as the teams were announced Tuesday. Moore, who is also on the preseason All-American team, was named to the first team and Church earned second team honors.
Moore led the nation in batting average (.455) and doubles (31) and Church hit .353 and drove in a team best 53 runs.Church feels that is was nice to be named to the preseason All-Southern Conference Team, but he said it’s the one at the end of the year that matters.
“It’s a great honor, but it’s the one after the season that really counts,” Church said.
Church isn’t just known for his big numbers at the plate. In 2004 Church made only five errors at first base and Baseball America named the Roswell, Ga. native as the best defensive first baseman in the conference.
“We work on fundamentals a lot in the fall and by the time spring comes around, it’s just natural,” Church said.
The College of Charleston had the most players on the two teams combined with eight and the Citadel was second with five players. Every pitcher on the first team was from the College of Charleston and they are the team to beat in the SoCon this year.
“Charleston is going to be good this year,” Church said. “They are ranked 26 right now and they are a powerhouse.”
The SoCon looks solid from top to bottom and the Buccaneers begin their 30-game conference schedule on Mar. 13 in Greenville, S.C., at Furman.
“Our SoCon games are always important, we want to win every weekend in the conference,” Church said.
ETSU also has some key non-conference games. The Bucs play Kentucky and Tennessee two times each. They also have a home series with West Virginia that starts on Mar. 4.
“We beat Kentucky last year and that was a big win for us so we looking forward to playing them again,” Church said.
The Bucs will host Tennessee on March 23 and this is a big game for the team. This in-state rivalry has always been a game to circle on the schedule for ETSU.
“UT is our biggest game at home, it’s always a lot of fun to play in front of a crowd of 1,000 plus,” Church said.
ETSU will face the Vols in Knoxville a week prior to their game in Johnson City on Mar. 16.

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