Mississippi State Baseball Duo Named to ABCA/Rawlings First Team South All-Region
Mississippi State baseball players RJ Yeager and Hunter Hines were both selected to the American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings NCAA Division I South All-Regional Team on Wednesday.
The duo was a force to be reckoned with at the plate for the Diamond Dawgs this season. They battled it out for the top spot on the team's home-run leaderboard and were among the two best on the team in various offensive categories.
Yeager, a graduate transfer out of Mercer, showed exactly why he was a sought-after recruit for the defending National Champions. Despite a slow start to the season, the second baseman finished the year with a .317 batting average and .668 slugging percentage, 56 RBI, 18 home runs and 15 doubles. He was the team leader in each of those categories.
Yeager also was among the best in the SEC offensively, ranking sixth in home runs and seventh in total RBI and slugging percentage.
Although he was only a freshman, Hines quickly became one of the most exciting Diamond Dawgs to watch at the plate. He led the team with 51 hits and was just behind Yeager with 16 home runs, 52 RBI and 13 doubles. The designated hitter was the only other Mississippi State player to post a slugging percentage as high as .600 and was one of four Bulldogs with a batting average above .300.
This is not the first honor of the season for either student-athlete. Yeager was named to the First-Team All-SEC in late May and was a finalist for the C-Spire Ferriss Trophy -- presented to the best college baseball player in the state of Mississippi. Hines was selected to the SEC All-Freshman Team and named a Freshman All-American by Collegiate Baseball Freshman.
All ABCA/Rawlings All-Region First Team student-athletes are voted on by members of the association. The ABCA/Rawlings All-America Teams will be announced on Friday morning.