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May 13, 2009
A trio of IUP juniors have been named to the All-PSAC West baseball team for the 2009 season, including a first team nod for pitcher Colby Betz. Catcher T.J. Nichols and shortstop Paul Bingham were selected to the second team. Betz and Nichols were also voted to the Daktronics All-Atlantic Region second team as selected by the region's sports information directors. This is the second time that Betz has been on the all-conference first team and all-region second team. Bingham is making his third appearance on the all-conference squad and it is the second time for Nichols. Betz posted a record of 4-1 with an ERA of 2.35 in six starts this season. He tossed three complete games and was the PSAC West Pitcher of the Week after an eight-inning, 1-0 win over NCAA tournament bound Mercyhurst. Opponents batted just .194 versus Betz, the lowest in the conference, and he also ranked fourth in the league in ERA. He has won 15 games in his career, tied for eighth in school history, and he is also eighth in ERA at 3.15 and tied for 10th with 13 complete games. Nichols split time between catcher, outfield and designated hitter but was selected to both the all-conference and all-region teams at catcher. He ranked second in the PSAC and 11th in the nation with a school record batting average of .467, knocking out 57 hits in 122 at bats. In addition to leading the Crimson Hawks in hits and batting average, Nichols tied for the team lead in doubles with 12 and was second with 34 runs scored and 43 RBIs. He stole seven bases in 11 attempts and committed only two errors in 111 chances for a fielding percentage of .982. Nichols has the top career batting average in IUP history at .409 and is tied for third in slugging percentage at .564. He also ranks sixth in hits (153), seventh in runs scored (92) and total bases (211), eighth in RBIs (91) and tied for 10th in home runs (10). Bingham tied for 13th in the PSAC with a batting average of .396, falling just shy of his second straight .400 season. He also tied for the conference lead with five triples, ranking 20th in the country in that category, and was third in walks with 31 and fifth in on-base percentage at .500. Bingham led the Crimson Hawks with 45 runs scored and 17 stolen bases (in 21 attempts) and was third in doubles with 10 and RBIs with 37. He stands in the top 10 in school history in several offensive categories and holds the top spot in runs scored with 134 and walks with 81. Bingham is also second in stolen bases (53), third in hits (180), triples (16) and batting average (.398), fifth in total bases (244), sixth in RBIs (99), seventh in at bats (452), eighth in slugging percentage (.540) and tied for 10th in doubles (26). |
