University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Baseball Picked to Win Sun Belt; Three Named to Preseason Team
2/8/2023 2:00:00 PM | Baseball
Tanner Hall Picked as Preseason Pitcher of the Year
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – As Southern Miss baseball makes its transition to the Sun Belt Conference this spring, the league's 14 head coaches have heaped praise on the program by picking them to win the regular season championship in their inaugural season. Three Golden Eagles, including Preseason Pitcher of the Year Tanner Hall, also garnered preseason awards released Wednesday afternoon by the league office.
Hall, along with Golden Eagle shortstop Dustin Dickerson and outfielder Carson Paetow, collected preseason league nods.
The 2022 Conference USA Pitcher of the Year, Ferriss Trophy Winner and consensus first-team All-American last spring, Hall posted
a 9-3 record with a 2.81 ERA with 146 strikeouts and only 14 walks over 109 innings of work. He ended the year ranked nationally in strikeout-to-walk ratio (No. 3/10.43), strikeouts (No. 4) and walks per nine innings (No. 11/1.16). Hall went at least seven innings in nine of 17 starting assignments and at least five frames in all but two starts. Hall enjoyed six games of double-digit strikeouts, including a career-high 14 with no walks against Old Dominion.
Over the summer, Hall made the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team and played in the Honkbalweek Tournament in Haarlem, Netherlands, collecting one start against Cuba and earning the victory by throwing four scoreless innings with three hits and two walks with seven strikeouts in a 2-0 triumph.
Dickerson earned second-team All-Conference USA honors in the infield last spring as he started in all 66 games at shortstop and has started in every game (143) during his Golden Eagle career. The Laurel, Miss., native led the team in hitting with a .320 average to go along with 24 doubles and 32 RBI. His double total rank tied for sixth on the Golden Eagle single-season records as he finished No. 12 nationally in total two-base hits.
Dickerson enjoyed a career-long 14-game hitting streak (4/14 to 5/6) as he batted .381 (24-for-63) with 12 runs, six doubles and eight RBI over that span. He hit safely in 23 of 24 games starting with that April 14 contest at FIU. Defensively, Dickerson did not commit an error over the final 24 games, spanning 103 fielding chances.
Paetow, a Freshman All-America selection by Collegiate Baseball and a member of the Conference USA All-Freshman team, played in 65 games with 61 starts (60 right field, 1 center field). The Vancleave, Miss., product batted .271 with 15 doubles, 16 home runs and 48 RBI to go along with 46 runs scored. His slugging percentage of .546 was tops on the team as he also enjoyed 16 multi-hit contests and 13 multi-RBI affairs.
He had his best hitting streak of eight games from April 9-20, in which he batted .378 (14-for-37) during that stretch with five doubles, two homers and 10 RBI. Paetow also collected his first career grand slam versus Rice (4/24) in the seventh inning that ended the game due to the league's 10-run rule. Another Paetow homer, which led off the game against LSU in the NCAA Regional final, marked the team's only leadoff homer of the year.
The Golden Eagles garnered 11 of the head coaches' first-place votes to be picked preseason favorite in the league, ahead of Georgia Southern and Texas State, who were tied to finish second in the league in front of Louisiana, Coastal Carolina, South Alabama and Old Dominion on the top half of the league.
Southern Miss opens the 2023 season, Friday, Feb. 17, versus Liberty at Pete Taylor Park. Game time is set for 4 p.m.
2023 SUN BELT CONFERENCE BASEBALL PRESEASON AWARDS
Preseason Player of the Year
Noah Ledford, Georgia Southern (RS Sr., DH – Buford, Ga.)
Preseason Pitcher of the Year
Tanner Hall, Southern Miss (Jr., SP – Zachary, La.)
Preseason All-Sun Belt Team
Tanner Hall, Southern Miss (Jr., SP – Zachary, La.)
Levi Wells, Texas State (Jr., SP – La Porte, Texas)
Zeke Wood, Texas State (Sr., SP – Paris, Texas)
Triston Dixon, Texas State (Sr., RP – Conroe, Texas)
Julian Brock, Louisiana (Jr., C – Fulshear, Texas)
Carson Roccaforte, Louisiana (Jr., 1B – Port Neches, Texas)
Jesse Sherrill, Georgia Southern (Sr., 2B – Pensacola, Fla.)
Dustin Dickerson, Southern Miss (Jr., SS – Laurel, Miss.)
Jarrett Brown, Georgia Southern (Jr., 3B – Savannah, Ga.)
Max Ryerson, Georgia State (Sr., OF – Conway, S.C.)
Carson Paetow, Southern Miss (So., OF – Vancleave, Miss.)
Jose Gonzalez, Texas State (Sr., OF – Spring, Texas)
Noah Ledford, Georgia Southern (RS Sr., DH – Buford, Ga.)
Cameron Jones, Georgia State (Jr., UT – Kathleen, Ga.)
2023 SUN BELT CONFERENCE BASEBALL PRESEASON COACHES POLL
1. Southern Miss (11) – 192
T2. Georgia Southern – 158
T2. Texas State (1) – 158
4. Louisiana (1) – 154
5. Coastal Carolina (1) – 151
6. South Alabama – 123
7. Old Dominion – 116
8. Troy – 109
9. Georgia State – 76
10. James Madison – 73
11. ULM – 58
12. App State – 43
13. Marshall – 36
14. Arkansas State – 23
Hall, along with Golden Eagle shortstop Dustin Dickerson and outfielder Carson Paetow, collected preseason league nods.
The 2022 Conference USA Pitcher of the Year, Ferriss Trophy Winner and consensus first-team All-American last spring, Hall posted
a 9-3 record with a 2.81 ERA with 146 strikeouts and only 14 walks over 109 innings of work. He ended the year ranked nationally in strikeout-to-walk ratio (No. 3/10.43), strikeouts (No. 4) and walks per nine innings (No. 11/1.16). Hall went at least seven innings in nine of 17 starting assignments and at least five frames in all but two starts. Hall enjoyed six games of double-digit strikeouts, including a career-high 14 with no walks against Old Dominion.
Over the summer, Hall made the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team and played in the Honkbalweek Tournament in Haarlem, Netherlands, collecting one start against Cuba and earning the victory by throwing four scoreless innings with three hits and two walks with seven strikeouts in a 2-0 triumph.
Dickerson earned second-team All-Conference USA honors in the infield last spring as he started in all 66 games at shortstop and has started in every game (143) during his Golden Eagle career. The Laurel, Miss., native led the team in hitting with a .320 average to go along with 24 doubles and 32 RBI. His double total rank tied for sixth on the Golden Eagle single-season records as he finished No. 12 nationally in total two-base hits.
Dickerson enjoyed a career-long 14-game hitting streak (4/14 to 5/6) as he batted .381 (24-for-63) with 12 runs, six doubles and eight RBI over that span. He hit safely in 23 of 24 games starting with that April 14 contest at FIU. Defensively, Dickerson did not commit an error over the final 24 games, spanning 103 fielding chances.
Paetow, a Freshman All-America selection by Collegiate Baseball and a member of the Conference USA All-Freshman team, played in 65 games with 61 starts (60 right field, 1 center field). The Vancleave, Miss., product batted .271 with 15 doubles, 16 home runs and 48 RBI to go along with 46 runs scored. His slugging percentage of .546 was tops on the team as he also enjoyed 16 multi-hit contests and 13 multi-RBI affairs.
He had his best hitting streak of eight games from April 9-20, in which he batted .378 (14-for-37) during that stretch with five doubles, two homers and 10 RBI. Paetow also collected his first career grand slam versus Rice (4/24) in the seventh inning that ended the game due to the league's 10-run rule. Another Paetow homer, which led off the game against LSU in the NCAA Regional final, marked the team's only leadoff homer of the year.
The Golden Eagles garnered 11 of the head coaches' first-place votes to be picked preseason favorite in the league, ahead of Georgia Southern and Texas State, who were tied to finish second in the league in front of Louisiana, Coastal Carolina, South Alabama and Old Dominion on the top half of the league.
Southern Miss opens the 2023 season, Friday, Feb. 17, versus Liberty at Pete Taylor Park. Game time is set for 4 p.m.
2023 SUN BELT CONFERENCE BASEBALL PRESEASON AWARDS
Preseason Player of the Year
Noah Ledford, Georgia Southern (RS Sr., DH – Buford, Ga.)
Preseason Pitcher of the Year
Tanner Hall, Southern Miss (Jr., SP – Zachary, La.)
Preseason All-Sun Belt Team
Tanner Hall, Southern Miss (Jr., SP – Zachary, La.)
Levi Wells, Texas State (Jr., SP – La Porte, Texas)
Zeke Wood, Texas State (Sr., SP – Paris, Texas)
Triston Dixon, Texas State (Sr., RP – Conroe, Texas)
Julian Brock, Louisiana (Jr., C – Fulshear, Texas)
Carson Roccaforte, Louisiana (Jr., 1B – Port Neches, Texas)
Jesse Sherrill, Georgia Southern (Sr., 2B – Pensacola, Fla.)
Dustin Dickerson, Southern Miss (Jr., SS – Laurel, Miss.)
Jarrett Brown, Georgia Southern (Jr., 3B – Savannah, Ga.)
Max Ryerson, Georgia State (Sr., OF – Conway, S.C.)
Carson Paetow, Southern Miss (So., OF – Vancleave, Miss.)
Jose Gonzalez, Texas State (Sr., OF – Spring, Texas)
Noah Ledford, Georgia Southern (RS Sr., DH – Buford, Ga.)
Cameron Jones, Georgia State (Jr., UT – Kathleen, Ga.)
2023 SUN BELT CONFERENCE BASEBALL PRESEASON COACHES POLL
1. Southern Miss (11) – 192
T2. Georgia Southern – 158
T2. Texas State (1) – 158
4. Louisiana (1) – 154
5. Coastal Carolina (1) – 151
6. South Alabama – 123
7. Old Dominion – 116
8. Troy – 109
9. Georgia State – 76
10. James Madison – 73
11. ULM – 58
12. App State – 43
13. Marshall – 36
14. Arkansas State – 23
Players Mentioned
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