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Dec. 16, 2009
Three IUP seniors have been named to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Division II preseason All-America team, include first team selection catcher T.J. Nichols and honorable mention choices shortstop Paul Bingham and pitcher Colby Betz. Only three schools had more players on the preseason All-America team than the Crimson Hawks. The team was chosen by the association's national poll voters and members of the association's board of directors from nominations submitted by sports information directors. Nichols, Bingham and Betz were each named to the All-PSAC West team last season and all three are prominently featured in the IUP baseball record book. Nichols is a two-time all-conference selection and was on the Daktronics All-Atlantic Region second team a year ago. He ranked second in the PSAC and seventh in the nation with a school-record batting average of .467 while splitting time between catcher, outfield and designated hitter. He had 12 doubles, 34 runs scored and drove in 34 runs while stealing seven bases. Nichols has the top career batting average in school history at .409 and is tied for third with a slugging percentage of .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 has been on the All-PSAC West team each of his first three seasons. Last year batted .396 to tie for 11th in the conference while tying for second with five triples and ranking 21st in the country with 0.12 triples per game. He led the Crimson Hawks with 45 runs scored and 17 stolen bases while adding 10 doubles and 37 RBIs. Bingham holds the top spot in school history with 134 runs scored and 81 walks and is second in stolen bases (53), third in hits (180), triples (16) and batting average (.398), fifth in total bases (244), sixth in RBIs (99), eighth in slugging percentage (.540) and tied for 10th in doubles (26). Betz was named to the All-PSAC West first team the past two seasons and joined Nichols on the Daktronics all-region second team in 2009. He had a record of 4-1 with an ERA of 2.35 in six starts last year, tossing three complete games, and was the PSAC West Pitcher of the Week after an eight-inning, 1-0 win over NCAA tournament participant Mercyhurst. Opponents batted just .194 versus Betz last season, the lowest mark in the PSAC, and he ranked third in ERA. In his career, Betz has 15 wins, tied for the eighth most in school history, and he also ranks eighth in ERA (3.15) and tied for 10th in complete games (13). Nichols, Bingham and Betz will be counted on to help IUP reach the PSAC playoffs for the second time in the past three seasons and a potential berth in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1990. The Crimson Hawks open their 2010 season February 13-14 with a four-game series at Wingate. |
