Three C-USA Players Named Freshman All-Americans

Brian Bogusevic

Three Conference USA baseball players have been named as Freshman All-Americans by Collegiate Baseball, the newspaper announced on Wednesday. Tulane teammates J.R. Crowell and Brian Bogusevic were joined by Southern Miss first baseman Marc Maddox on the squad. C-USA has produced at least three Freshman All-Americans in each of its first eight seasons.

The 2003 Conference USA Freshman of the Year, Crowel finished his initial campaign as the Green Wave’s leader in strikeouts and innings pitched with 73 Ks in 106.0 innings of work, while finishing second in ERA with a 3.40 mark and wins with an 8-1 record.

Crowel tallied five or more strikeouts on six occasions, including a career-high seven four times. He pitched at least 6.0 innings in 10 of his 15 starts, and had complete-game victories against Houston on April 12 and at Saint Louis on April 27.

Bogusevic, meanwhile, had a 3-2 record with a 3.41 ERA from the mound, but also proved to be equally potent at the plate where he hit .321 with four home runs, 10 doubles and 36 RBI. He led the team with four triples, and ranked fifth in batting average, doubles and total bases.

The Conference USA Hitter of the Week for March 10, Bogusevic had 17 multiple-hit games, including six three-hit games and a 4-for-4 showing against UL-Lafayette on March 5. He also tallied eight multiple-RBI contests, including a trio of three-RBI outings.

Tulane has now produced at least one Freshman All-American in each of the last five seasons.

Maddox ranked third on Southern Miss with a .336 batting average, trailing only first team All-Americans Jeff Cook and Clint King. Though he made just 28 starts, he saw action in 57 games, hitting 12 doubles, five home runs and driving in 23 runs. In a nine game stretch that included the final five regular season games and four games in the Conference USA Tournament, Maddox batted .560 (20-for-43), helping the Golden Eagles to eight wins.

Maddox follows four Golden Eagle teammates that earned Freshman All-American honors last season.