Winthrop baseball garners 7 Big South honors, including Freshman and Coach of the Year

Colten Rendon was named the Big South Conference Freshman of the Year and Tom Riginos was tabbed the Coach of the Year as Winthrop baseball earned seven honors when the Big South Conference announced its annual awards Monday evening.

The Eagles had four players earn all-conference honors as senior Anthony Paulsen, Mitch Spires, Nate Pawelczyk and Colten Rendon all earned All-Big South First Team honors.

Paulsen leads the Eagles in batting average, doubles, slugging percentage, and on-base percentage while his .347 average is third in the Big South. He ranks in the Top 10 of seven offensive categories in the league. It is Paulsen’s third All-Big South honor as he’s now been named to the first team twice.

Spires leads the Eagles in runs scored and at-bats. He finished second on the team in doubles, slugging percentage, and on-base percentage. Spires, who tied Paulsen for the team lead in hits also finished in the Top 10 in runs scored for the league. This is Spires first time being named all-conference.

Pawelczyk leads the Eagles in wins, ERA, opponents' batting average, least amount of runs allowed, and fewest earned runs allowed. He was first in wins, ERA, and opponents' batting average in the Big South. He ranks in the Top 10 of 10 pitching categories in the league. It’s the first All-Big South selection for Pawelczyk.

Rendon leads the Eagles in wins, walks, and second on the team in ERA, innings pitched and opponents' batting average. He ranks in the Top 10 of 10 pitching categories in the league. Rendon is the first Eagle to win Freshman of the Year since Alex Wilson in 2006.

Riginos was named Coach of the Year for the first time in his stint with the Eagles and the first since Joe Hudak in 2001. Riginos led the Eagles to a 31-22 overall record, 15-7 at home, 15-12 on the road, and 17-7 in the conference. The 31 wins are the second most during his time at Winthrop. The 17 league wins are the most by the Eagles since 2009 when they were 18-9.

Sophomore Hunter Lipscomb was named to the Big South All-Academic Team.

This story was originally published May 23, 2017 at 10:06 AM with the headline "Winthrop baseball garners 7 Big South honors, including Freshman and Coach of the Year."