McNeese’s Provenzano among first-team All-Louisiana selections

LAKE CHARLES – McNeese record-setting second baseman Joe Provenzano added another trophy to his mantle as he was named to the All-Louisiana First Team, the Louisiana Sports Writers Association (LSWA) released late Saturday night.

Provenzano, a native of Downers Grove, Ill., became McNeese’s career hits leader this past season, ending his four-year career with 254 base knocks. He also played in 222 career games, tying him as the program’s career leader.

In 2018, Provenzano, who was named to the all-Southland Conference third team, led the Cowboys with a .336 batting average, 73 hits, 16 doubles, a .488 slugging percentage, and a .428 on-base percentage. He also ranked second on the squad with 35 runs batted in.

After hitting just .218 through the first 22 games of the season, the graduate hit .402 in the remaining 36 games and knocked in 26 of his 35 RBIs in that span.

Provenzano was recently named the Southland Conference’s Baseball Co-Student Athlete of the Year, earned Google Cloud Academic All-District honors and for the second straight year, was named a Google Cloud Academic All-American.

Northwestern State coach Bobby Barbier was named the state’s coach of the year while first baseman David Fry picked up hitter of the year honors and pitcher Jerry Maddox newcomer of the year. ULL’s Colten Schmidt earned pitcher of the year honors; and Daniel Cabrera of LSU picked up the freshman of the year award.

2018 LSWA COLLEGE BASEBALL TEAM
Hitter of the Year – David Fry, Northwestern State
Pitcher of the Year – Colten Schmidt, Louisiana
Newcomer of the Year – Jerry Maddox, Northwestern State
Freshman of the Year – Daniel Cabrera, LSU
Coach of the Year – Bobby Barbier, Northwestern State

FIRST TEAM
P – Logan Bailey, Louisiana Tech – Jr., 8-1, 2.24 ERA, First-Team All-CUSA
P – Carlisle Koestler, Southeastern Louisiana – Jr., 7-1, 2.68 ERA, Second-Team All-Southland
P – Jerry Maddox, Northwestern State – Jr., 7-3, 2.03 ERA, Southland Newcomer of the Year
P – Colten Schmidt, Louisiana – Sr., 7-0, 2.45 ERA, Sun Belt Pitcher of the Year
C – Beau Bratton, New Orleans – Soph., .315, 2 HR, 41 RBI, Second-Team All-Southland
1B – David Fry, Northwestern State – Sr., .336, 12 HR, 55 RBI, Third-Team All-American
2B – Joe Provenzano, McNeese – Sr., .336, 5 HR, 35 RBI, Third-Team All-Southland
3B – Owen Magee, New Orleans – Sr., .321, 8 HR, 41 RBI, First-Team All-Southland
SS – Marshawn Taylor, Grambling – Sr., .404, 44 RBI, First-Team All-SWAC
OF – Drew Avans, Southeastern Louisiana – Sr., .330, 10 HR, 44 RBI, First-Team All-Southland
OF – Antoine Duplantis, LSU – Jr., .337, 2 HR, 47 RBI
OF – Grant Witherspoon, Tulane – Jr., .330, 12 HR, 53 RBI, First-Team All-American Conference
UT – Austin Bain, LSU – Sr., .307, 3 HR, 42 RBI; 1-2, 3.00 ERA 4 Saves
DH – Daniel Cabrera, LSU – Fr., .330, 8 HR, 52 RBI, College Baseball Freshman All-America

SECOND TEAM
P – Ma’Khail Hilliard, LSU – Fr., 9-5, 3.79 ERA, Freshman All-SEC
P – David Leal, Louisiana Tech – Jr., 4-4, 2.27 ERA, Second-Team All-CUSA
P – Renny Tolentino, LSU Shreveport – Sr., 11-3, 2.81 ERA, First-Team All-RRAC
P – Bryan Warzek, New Orleans – Jr., 5-2, 2.82 ERA, First-Team All-Southland
C – Jake Gray, LSU Shreveport – Fr., .377, 2 HR, 29 RBI, RRAC Freshman of the Year
1B – Trevor Jensen, Tulane – Jr., .306, 9 HR, 35 RBI
2B – Cody Grosse, Southeastern Louisiana – Jr., .314, 29 RBI, Second-Team All-Southland
3B – Bryce Laird, LSU Alexandria – Sr., .400, 1 HR, 32 RBI, First-Team All-RRAC
SS – Joey Morales, Nicholls – Sr., .341, 2 HR, 38 RBI, Second-Team All-Southland
OF – Parker Bates, Louisiana Tech – Soph., .310, 4 HR, 50 RBI, Second-Team All-CUSA
OF – Daniel Lahare, Louisiana – Jr., .321, 4 HR, 21 RBI, Second-Team All-Sun Belt
OF – Zach Watson, LSU – Soph., .304, 6 HR, 32 RBI
UT – Logan Constantine, LSU Alexandria – Jr., .358, 6 HR, 43 RBI, First-Team All-RRAC
DH – Rafael Ramirez, Grambling – Soph., .353, 16 HR, 60 RBI, Second-Team All-SWAC

HONORABLE MENTION
P – Hogan Harris, Louisiana; Ridge Heisler, Northwestern State; Logan Stoelke, Louisiana. C – Richard Ortiz, Grambling. 1B – Matthew Hammock, LSU Shreveport. 2B – Jonathan Artigues, Tulane. SS – Dalton Skelton, Louisiana Tech. OF – Chet Niehaus, Nicholls. DH – Hunter Wells, Louisiana Tech.