BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Southwestern Athletic Conference released its 2020 Preseason Baseball honors on Tuesday afternoon with the Alabama State Hornets and the Southern Jaguars picked as favorites to claim their respective divisions.
Individually Alabama State’s Santiago Garcia and Jackson State’s Nikelle Galatas were named Preseason Player and Pitcher of the Year respectively.
Garcia finished the year hitting .328 while catching every pitch from the Hornets’ rotation in 464 innings. He finished the season with 25 extra-base hits, including 16 doubles and nine home runs, while leading the team with 63 runs batted in. Garcia ended his sophomore season with a .513 slugging percentage and a .375 on-base percentage.
Galatas had an impressive year last season for Jackson State as he ranked seventh in the conference in earned run average (4.13 ERA), fifth in opposing batter average (.237), first in innings pitched (93.2), second in batters struck out (74), and fourth in total wins (6).
Alabama State was selected as the SWAC Eastern Division favorite, followed by Jackson State, Alabama A&M, Alcorn State, and Mississippi Valley State respectively.
Southern was tabbed to claim the SWAC Western Division title with Grambling State, Texas Southern, Prairie View A&M, and Arkansas-Pine Bluff selected 2-5 respectively.
A complete listing of the 2020 SWAC Baseball Preseason honors can be found below.
2020 Preseason All-SWAC Baseball Teams
Preseason Player of the Year
Santiago Garcia, Alabama State
Preseason Pitcher of the Year
Nikelle Galatas, Jackson State
Preseason First Team
C – Santiago Garcia, Alabama State
1B – Nick Kreutzer, Arkansas-Pine Bluff
2B – Alex Martinez, Prairie View A&M
3B – Jaylyn Williams, Jackson State
SS – Wesley Reyes, Jackson State
DH – Chris Prentiss, Jackson State
OF – Equon Smith, Jackson State
OF – Brandon Rembert, Alcorn State
OF – Tyson Thompson, Texas Southern
SP – Elijah Finney, Southern
SP – Bryan Delgado, Grambling State
RP – Aaron Barkley, Mississippi Valley State
Preseason Second Team
C – Tyler Gordon, Prairie View A&M
1B – Oscar Ponce, Texas Southern
2B – Tristin Garcia, Alcorn State
3B – Nic Garza, Texas Southern
SS – Christopher DeGuzman, Alabama State
DH – Angel Jimenez, Alabama State
OF – Jahmoi Percival, Grambling State
OF – Xavier Jefferson, Prairie View A&M
OF – Ian Bailey, Grambling State
SP – Nikelle Galatas, Jackson State
SP – Jeremy Rivera, Alabama State
RP – Mario Lopez, Jackson State
Eastern Division Predicted Order of Finish
Alabama State, 77 points
Jackson State, 70 points
Alabama A&M, 48 points
Alcorn State, 43 points
Mississippi Valley State, 35 points
Western Division Predicted Order of Finish
Southern, 75 points
Grambling State, 68 points
Texas Southern, 47 points
Prairie View A&M, 28 points
Arkansas-Pine Bluff, 22 points
Courtesy: SWAC
