Julian Sanders Earns SCIAC Athlete of the Year, Four Stags Earn All-SCIAC

CLAREMONT, Calif. - Julian Sanders earned the SCIAC Athlete of the Year Award for the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps baseball team and was joined on the All-SCIAC first team by Tyler Shaw, while Jarrett Korson and Paul Roche earned spots on the second team, the conference office announced today.

Sanders enters the postseason hitting .399 on the year, while leading the SCIAC in homers (13) and runs batted in (54). He was named the SCIAC Hitter of the Week three times this season, once after a streak of eight straight hits on the Stags' Texas trip (including a 5-for-5 game against Texas Lutheran) and again after hitting the game-winning three-run double with two outs in the ninth inning of a comeback win over Whittier. His 13 home runs ties him for the CMS single-season record, which was set in 1997 by Tyler Loughery. 

Shaw capped off a spectacular regular season with a .394 batting average from the leadoff spot in the batting order, while anchoring the CMS defense from his shortstop position, where he committed only 10 errors in 37 starts. His season included a 6-for-6 game against Lewis & Clark, and an 8-for-12 doubleheader in two comeback wins over Caltech, when he had key singles in the winning rallies in the 10th and ninth innings. 

Korson earned All-SCIAC second team honors for the second season in a row after compiling a 7-3 record as the Stags' No. 1 pitcher. He enters the postseason with 67 strikeouts and only 16 walks, and has compiled a 15-5 record overall in the last two years (10-3 in SCIAC contests). His regular season included a nine-inning shutout win over Chapman, and a win over Redlands when he took a no-hitter into the eighth inning. 

Roche finished the regular season with a .358 batting average, to go along with 11 doubles, six home runs and 35 RBI. He began the season with a 12-game hitting streak, and also played strong defense for the Stags in right field. He had a two-homer, five-RBI game in a win over Pomona-Pitzer and another five-RBI game in a win over Gustavus Adolphus. 

The four All-SCIAC winners have helped CMS to a 28-9 record during the regular season, its highest win total since 1988, and a berth in the SCIAC Postseason Tournament for the first time. The Stags open postseason play with a game against Chapman on Thursday afternoon at 3 p.m., which will be held at Pomona-Pitzer.