ROCK HILL, S.C. – For the seventh year in a row, Carson-Newman has multiple All-South Atlantic Conference honorees announced by the league on Wednesday. Starting pitcher Matt Bradley and shortstop Micah Genter were each named to the second unit.
Since 2015, the Eagles have placed at least two players on all-league units bringing the program's all-time total to 109 players to earn the league's distinction with 52 now earning second-team laurels.
Bradley makes its four straight years the program has placed a pitcher on an all-conference roster as the right-hander is one of the most consistent hurlers in the league. The Talbott, Tenn. native went 7-0 with two complete games, a 2.93 ERA fanning 56 batters over 58 1/3 innings pitched. For the year, he ranked third in the league in WHIP (1.10), fifth in walks per nine innings (2.16) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (four), sixth in ERA (2.93), hits allowed per nine innings (7.71) and wins (seven).
The senior has thrown his best baseball to close out his career allowing one run over 20 2/3 innings in April fanning 22 batters while allowing two walks and 15 hits to go 2-0 over the final month of the year. The Eagles are 10-2 in his starts this year working at least five innings six times. In his final start at the Silver Diamond Baseball Complex, the righty shut down a potent Lenoir-Rhyne lineup scattering five hits over seven shutout innings with nine punch outs.
Over his last three starts, Bradley has not allowed a run over 16 2/3 innings with 17 punch outs and one walk. Dating back to a Dylan Shugan solo home run to lead off the fourth inning for Limestone on April 2, the flamethrower has gone 17 2/3 innings without giving up a run.
For his career, the Volunteer State native is 17-7 with five complete games, nine saves, a 4.08 ERA, 236 strikeouts while logging 225 innings on the rubber. The team is 27-9 when he starts a game.
Genter earns the first laurel of any kind for his career and is the first shortstop to take postseason honors for C-N since Mills Rogers was a first-team selection in 2010. Overall he is the 10th shortstop in program history to be named All-SAC.
The Jasper, Tenn. native has registered the best season of his career with a .349 batting average, one home run, 21 RBIs swiping nine bases. He is the second-hardest hitter in the league to strikeout doing so once every 13 at bats, eighth with three triples and 12th in total hits with 59. For the year, he tallied 18 multi-hit games, four multi-RBI efforts and is currently riding a career-long 12-game hitting streak where he is hitting .375 with 12 runs scored having touched the plate at least once in nine straight games since April 11 at Tusculum.
In February he had a nine-game hitting streak that included five multi-hit games including a 4-for-5 effort with an RBI and three runs scored in the series finale at Alabama-Huntsville. Genter has struck out one time in the last 11 games, a span of 44 at bats. Spanning his last season of action, he raised his batting average by nearly 100 points from 2021. Also one of the top defenders in the conference, he tallied 120 assists with nine errors in 215 total chances. For his career, he has been a part of 99 double plays with 524 total assists.
Carson-Newman is slated to start play in the 2022 SAC Baseball Championships on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. against sixth-seeded Lincoln Memorial from Smokies Stadium with video coverage on cneagles.com/live brought to you by the Eagle Sports Network team.
- CN -
