Marshall University Athletics
Bird, Boster Earn Preseason Conference USA Honors
1/27/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
IRVING, Texas - Marshall baseball senior pitcher Chase Boster and junior outfielder Corey Bird were selected to the All-Conference USA Preseason Team announced Wednesday by the conference.
The team that was voted on by the league's 12 coaches consisted of 14 players from eight teams. Old Dominion led the way with three players selected, while Marshall, Rice, UAB and Florida Atlantic had two players chosen. Middle Tennessee, Southern Miss and WKU rounded out the squad with one player each.
"This is a great honor for Corey and Chase," Herd Coach Jeff Waggoner said. "No one deserves this honor as much as Corey and Chase do. They work as hard as anyone and they strive to be the best they can be. We expect great things from them this season."
Boster, from Stafford, Va., was voted to the All-Conference USA second team last season after appearing in 12 games, and had a 7-1 record in 55 innings pitched with 37 strikeouts. The 6-foot-3 pitcher picked up his first win of the season at Florida A&M as he threw five innings and struck out seven while allowing no runs on two hits. Boster worked his way into the starting weekend rotation for the Herd and won his first three conference starts against Charlotte, Old Dominion and Middle Tennessee. Boster finished the season with a team-low 2.95 ERA.
As a sophomore last season, Bird started in all 52 games for Marshall, and was a staple in center field. The 6-foot-1 outfielder led the Herd in batting average (.307), at-bats (121), runs (34), hits (65) and total bases (77). Bird was a threat on the base path with 10 stolen bases, while also having an on-base percentage of .373 and a slugging percentage of .363. Bird had 18 multi-hit games, including five games with four hits. The Elkview, W.Va., native finished with 23 RBIs, seven doubles, one triple and one home run.
This past summer, Bird was named to the 2015 Cap Cod Baseball league Year-End All-League Team by league staff. Bird finished the regular season with a .344 batting average - fourth in the league - to go with 11 steals and 11 RBI - mostly from leadoff or ninth in the Hyannis Harbor Hawks' order. In the two-round playoffs, Bird went 11-for-30 (.367) in seven games, with a towering homer, seven RBI and five steals. His postseason OPS was .945.
The Herd opens its season in the Sunshine State, as it travels to Florida A&M for a three-game series beginning on Friday, Feb. 19 at 4 p.m.
ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
P Chase Boster Sr. Marshall
P Blake Fox Sr. Rice
P Sam Sinnen Jr. Old Dominion
RP Thomas Lowery Jr. UAB
C Esteban Tresgallo Sr. UAB
IF CJ Chatham Jr. Florida Atlantic
IF Danny Hudzina Sr. WKU
IF Tim Lynch Sr. Southern Miss
IF Zach Rutherford So. Old Dominion
OF Corey Bird Jr. Marshall
OF Brad Jarreau Sr. Middle Tennessee
OF Connor Myers Sr. Old Dominion
OF Ryan Chandler So. Rice
DH/UT Brett Lashley Sr. Florida Atlantic
PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH
1. Rice (12)2. Florida Atlantic3. Southern Miss4. FIU5. Old Dominion6. UTSA7. Middle Tennessee8. UAB9. WKU10. Charlotte11. Louisiana Tech12. Marshall(first place votes in parentheses)
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