SAU places 18 on GSC Spring All-Decade Teams
By: Houston Taylor
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Southern Arkansas is represented by 18 selections across three sports on the Gulf South Conference spring All-Decade teams released Thursday, highlighted by the Muleriders being honored as the baseball team of the decade, and placing 12 members on the baseball West Division All-Decade squad.
The spring All-Decade teams include all five conference sports (baseball, softball, men’s golf, men’s and women’s tennis), excluding women’s golf which wasn’t added as an official league sport until 2005. The decade covered seasons from 2001 to 2010.
Student-athletes could only be nominated if they had competed in at least two seasons during the decade and had received first team all-conference honors at least once. Players and coaches of the decade for each sport were also voted on, as well as honorable mention selections being made for those athletes who only participated in one season.
All-decade teams for each of the sports were recognized using a formula based on how each school’s team finished in the All-Sports Trophy standings over the past 10 years.
BASEBALL
SAU and Delta State, the perennial baseball powers across the league over the past decade, matched each other with 12 selections apiece on the All-Decade team, the most of any school among both divisions. Southern Arkansas earned 140 points out of a possible 161 to the Statesmen’s 134.5 to edge them as the top team of the past 10 years.
The Muleriders are led on the baseball All-Decade team by 2010 MLB 
first round draft pick Hayden Simpson (Magnolia), who is the unanimous West Division pitcher of the decade, receiving all 45 points possible in the voting. Simpson completed one of the most outstanding three-year careers in Division II history this spring, receiving numerous awards including national pitcher of the year honors and was the national player of the year runner-up. He was a three-time first team All-America selection for two consecutive seasons, received back-to-back South Region pitcher of the year accolades and was a three-time first team All-GSC selection. Simpson was 35-2 over his three seasons with a 2.39 ERA, 13 complete games with seven shutouts, and compiled 323 strikeouts in 271 innings.
Delta State outfielder Jud Thigpen (2001-2004) was voted West Division player of the decade and Statesmen Head Coach Mike Kinnison earned coach of the decade honors.
Eight players across both divisions were unanimous selections on the baseball team, with three coming out of the West. Besides Simpson and Thigpen, SAU’s Cannon Lester (El Dorado) received the other unanimous nod, making the first team as the second baseman.
Lester is the GSC’s all-time career leader in doubles (75), runs scored (247) and shares the career mark for hit by pitch (68). An All-America
and All-South Region selection the past two years, Lester was one of 36 semi-finalists for the 2010 Tino Martinez National Player of the Year award. He was a two-time first team All-GSC pick and finished his four years at Southern Arkansas hitting .379 for his career with 75 doubles, 5 triples, 41 home runs, 219 RBI and a .651 slugging percentage. Lester’s RBIs and total bases (498) are third all-time in the GSC and he stands fourth in hits (290).
Joining Simpson and Lester on the West Division All-Decade first team are first baseman Bobby Beeson (Magnolia), who also made the second team as a starting pitcher, designated hitter Tracy Geffre (Mandan, N.D.) and starting pitcher Cody Jones (Springhill, La.).
Beeson (2002-2004) was a third team All-America and first team 
All-Region selection his junior season en route to being picked in the 10th round of the 2004 MLB draft by the Kansas City Royals. He received the GSC Commissioner’s Trophy that year and was the West Division Player of the Year and a first team all-conference pick at both first base and pitcher, one of only two in league history to achieve this trifecta. A two-time first team All-GSC selection, Beeson hit .364 in his three seasons with 40 doubles, 5 triples, 23 home runs and 165 RBI. He was 21-5 on the mound with a 3.34 ERA, tossed two shutouts in nine complete games, and had 150 strikeouts in 172 1/3 innings.
Geffre (2002-2003) provided the Muleriders with the first of two back-to-back GSC player of the year honorees, preceding Beeson in 
2003. He was the first SAU player to claim first team All-America honors in the NCAA era, doing so in his senior season of 2003, and was also a first team All-Region honoree that season. One of Southern Arkansas’ all-time greatest sluggers, Geffre finished his career hitting .414 with 33 doubles, 4 triples, 32 home runs, 101 RBI and a .781 slugging percentage. His career slugging percentage stands second all-time in the GSC.
One of the all-time pitching greats in school history, Jones (2005-2008) left the Muleriders sharing the most career wins, and was 
second in career strikeouts and had the highest single-season total (115), all before Simpson came along. He had a stellar sophomore season in 2006 when he was 12-3 with a 2.98 ERA and 115 strikeouts, and was a third team All-America and first team All-Region honoree. An arm injury slowed Jones his junior season, but he still compiled a career record of 32-11 with a 3.86 ERA, had 20 complete games with six shutouts and struck out 269 in 368 1/3 innings. He stands second all-time in the GSC in career innings pitched and shutouts, is fourth in career wins and seventh in strikeouts.
Former SAU players making the West Division second team are Jeremy Triche (La Place, La.) at catcher, Andrew Whittington (Texas City, Texas) at shortstop, Aharon Eggleston (Las Vegas, Nev.), John Long (Smackover) and Skyler Stromsmoe (Etzikom, Alberta, Canada) at three of the four outfield spots, and Beeson as one of the three starting pitchers. Former Head Coach Allen Gum rounds out the Southern Arkansas contingent as the second team coach.
Triche (2006-2007) was a third team All-America and first team All-Region pick in 2006 and received first team All-GSC honors in each of his two seasons. A two-year starter at catcher, he hit .324 over 
both seasons with 28 doubles, 25 home runs and 124 RBI. Another one of the Muleriders’ great sluggers, Triche claimed the most outstanding player honor in the 2006 league tournament, in which he hit one of the longest home runs in history at Olympic Stadium in Millington, Tenn.
Whittington (2009-2010) concluded his stellar career this past season by being taken in the 33rd round of the MLB draft by the Arizona 
Diamondbacks. He was a third team All-America and first team All-South Region and All-GSC pick each of the last two years. Whittington’s career totals include hitting .381 with 39 doubles, a school record 14 triples, 13 home runs and 132 RBI, with a .603 slugging percentage from the leadoff spot. This spring he rattled off a GSC record 37-game consecutive hitting streak and his career triples rank third all-time.
Eggleston (2004-2005) patrolled center field for two seasons for SAU, claiming third team All-America and first team All-Region honors in 2004, and was a two-time first team All-GSC pick. His career numbers
include a .404 average with 31 doubles, 9 triples, 5 home runs, 95 RBI and 66 stolen bases. Eggleston’s 103 hits in 2004 is the school record and his .431 batting average that year is the highest single-season average by a Southern Arkansas player over the past decade.
After being limited to just 30 games his junior year, Long (2007-2008) garnered first and second team All-America and first team All-Region 
honors in 2008. A transfer who started his career with the Arkansas Razorbacks, he hit .389 his two seasons with 29 doubles, 3 triples, 22 home runs and 100 RBI, with a .728 slugging percentage that stands fourth all-time in the GSC. The left fielder hit .415 his senior year with 21 doubles, 18 home runs, 74 RBI and slugged .800.
One of the most versatile players to don a Mulerider uniform, Stromsmoe (2005-2007) covered center field for SAU, but moved to the infield as needed when injuries hit. His own hand injury limited him to just five games his first year, but he rebounded with two
spectacular seasons, claiming first team All-Region honors in 2007 and was a two-time first team All-GSC selection. Stromsmoe was also twice voted an academic All-American. He finished his career hitting .331 with 30 doubles, 6 triples, 6 home runs and 76 RBI, while stealing 103 bases, which stands third all-time in the conference. His 48 consecutive stolen bases is second all-time in the GSC, and he swiped 52 his senior year for the school record. Stromsmoe is currently in his fourth minor league season and is with the San Francisco Giants’ AA team in Richmond, Va.
Gum (2006-2010) finished his five-year career at Southern Arkansas as the winningest coach in the GSC over the last half of the decade in both wins (226-68) and win percentage (.769). During that span he guided his teams to a league-best record of 87-16 (.845), with two conference championships (2006, 2009) and two consecutive West 
Division titles the past two years. Gum currently stands second all-time in conference history in win percentage among coaches with a minimum of five years service. He was named GSC coach of the year in both 2006 and 2009 and the NCBWA South Region coach of the year in 2009. His teams combined for a GSC best 17-7 mark in five consecutive trips to the post-season tournament, claiming the two championships and reaching the semi-finals in 2008 and the finals this year. Gum led his teams to four NCAA Division II region tournament appearances, including three consecutive (2008-1010), advancing to the semi-finals three times and to the championship final in May in Tampa. His teams posted five consecutive 40-plus win seasons, with a school record 52-11 mark in 2009 that led the nation in both wins and win percentage. Gum guided the Muleriders to the national No. 1 ranking in each of the past three seasons, with final season rankings of 18th (2006), 12th (2008), 4th (2009) and 6th (2010). Over his five years, he coached eight players that were MLB draft picks, including the highest selection in school history, eight players who received 11 All-America honors, 14 All-Region picks and 43 All-GSC selections, including 28 first team honorees.
MEN’S GOLF
SAU had no representatives on the men’s golf All-Decade team and the squad wasn’t broken down by divisions as the other sports were. North Alabama’s Brett Munson, the 2010 Jack Nicklaus player of the year, was voted the GSC player of the decade, and West Florida’s Steve Fell received coach of the decade honors, with the Argonauts also being named the team of the decade.
SOFTBALL
Former Arkansas-Monticello first baseman Meredith Heckel and Delta State outfielder Alyse Hasty highlight the West Division All-Decade softball team as the players of the decade, while Cotton Blossom ace Lindsey Kight, a former graduate assistant for the Southern Arkansas softball team, was named West Division pitcher of the decade. UAM continued its domination of the West Division squad with current Coach Alvy Early voted as the coach of the decade. The East Division’s Alabama-Huntsville is the team of the decade.
SAU placed five former members on the softball All-Decade team, including West Division first team selection Lauren Frazier (Houston, Texas) at third base. Second team honorees are third baseman Tisha Thompson (Jefferson, Texas), outfielder Lyndsey Knight (Atlanta, Texas), designated player Cassie Blackwood (Forney, Texas) and pitcher Krystal Poulin (Marana, Ariz.).
Frazier (2002-2005) garnered first team All-South Region and All-GSC honors her junior season in 2004 and helped lead Southern Arkansas to
the championship game of the conference tournament. She hit .380 the next year to repeat first team all-conference accolades. Frazier finished her four-year career hitting .317 with 8 doubles, 3 triples, 1 home run and 35 RBI, while stealing 96 bases, which is eighth all-time in the GSC. She is the career leader for the Lady Muleriders in runs scored (140) and stolen bases, is second all-time in batting average, at-bats (684) and hits (217), and holds the school season records in at-bats (205), runs (47) and hits (78).
Thompson (2004-2007) hit a school record .381 in 2007 in being named second team All-South Region and first team all-conference. A 
four-year starter, she missed only five games her freshman season and ended her career with a .306 average, 36 doubles, 27 home runs and 128 RBI. Thompson is the career leader at SAU in home runs, RBI, slugging percentage (.522), on-base percentage (.434), walks (87) and hit by pitch (43), is second all-time in games played (207) and total bases (282), and third in career doubles (36), and holds seven school season records.
One of the earliest recruits after Southern Arkansas resurrected its softball program in 1999, Knight played right field for the Lady Muleriders from 2001-2004. She was a two-time first team All-GSC 
performer her final two seasons after being a second team pick as a sophomore. As the leadoff hitter, she finished her career with a .311 average, 6 doubles, 3 triples and 34 RBI, while scoring 98 runs with 29 sacrifice hits and 95 stolen bases. She posted .340 and .353 batting averages her final two seasons. Knight’s career stolen base percentage (.913, 95-104) is eighth-best in GSC history and she’s ranked 10th in career stolen bases. Her 43 stolen bases in 2003 ranks fifth in the conference and is a school record. She’s second all-time at SAU in career stolen bases and sac hits.
Blackwood (2002-2005) was a versatile four-year starter during her career, playing both the outfield and infield and pitching. She was a 
first team All-South Region pick her junior season of 2004 and a first team All-GSC selection in 2005 after earning second team laurels the previous three seasons. Over her career she hit .297 with 40 doubles, 2 triples, 15 home runs and 97 RBI, and was 33-31 in the circle with a 2.70 ERA and 5 saves in 97 appearances with 54 starts. She had nine shutouts while tossing 36 complete games, recording 235 strikeouts. Blackwood is the career leader at Southern Arkansas in pitching appearances, innings pitched (467) and saves (5), is second all-time in doubles, and third in home runs, RBI, slugging percentage (.458) and total bases (253).
The most dominant pitcher in Lady Mulerider history, Poulin (2002-2004) has tossed the school’s only two perfect games and had four no-hitters to her credit. She finished her three-year career with
19 double-digit strikeout performances, including five outings of 15-plus, with a school record 17 twice. Poulin received second team All-South Region honors in 2003, was a first team All-GSC honoree her final two seasons, received the GSC Commissioner’s Trophy as the league’s top female athlete in 2004, and was an academic All-American. She concluded her career with a 39-29 record and 1.51 ERA in 81 appearances, throwing 18 shutouts and 49 complete games in 70 starts, while recording 497 strikeouts in 446 innings and limiting opponents to a .182 batting average against her. Poulin is tied at third all-time in the GSC in both perfect games and career no-hitters, stands third in career strikeout ratio (7.8), and is eighth in consecutive scoreless innings pitched (32.1) and career strikeouts. She holds the GSC season record for strikeout ratio, fanning an average of 10.4 batters per seven innings, and is ranked in the top seven in four other season pitching categories. She holds a total of 17 SAU pitching records.
WOMEN’S TENNIS
Ouachita Baptist’s Brenda Magnetti was tabbed the GSC West Division women’s tennis player of the decade, while current Lady Tiger Coach Betsy Danner earned the West Division coach of the decade honor. West Florida was the overall team of the decade.
Southern Arkansas’ final representative on the GSC spring All-Decade team is Rachel Vinsant (Greenville, Texas), who was voted to the West Division women’s tennis second team.
Vinsant (2004-2008) was a first team All-GSC honoree in 2005 and 2007, while earning second team laurels in 2006 and 2008. She completed her four-year career with a 41-37 singles record and was 
37-47 in doubles play, both primarily at No. 1, and led the Lady Muleriders to their first-ever NCAA region rankings. Vinsant was a four-time ITA scholar-athlete, three-time GSC All-Academic team honoree and was twice named a first team academic All-District selection.
Top pick Simpson to miss Summer Baseball
By: Carrie Muskat
CHICAGO — Hayden Simpson (Magnolia), the Cubs’ No. 1 Draft pick, will not play baseball this summer because he’s battling mononucleosis, according to scouting director Tim Wilken.
Wilken was in Boise on Monday with the Class A Short-Season team, where Simpson would have reported by this time. The 16th overall selection out of Southern Arkansas, Simpson went 13-1 with a 1.81 ERA in 99 1/3 innings over his junior season.
The Cubs planned on having Simpson report to Mesa, Ariz., after he signed on June 19 and then report to Boise. The day he signed, Simpson had a side session at Wrigley Field with Cubs pitching coach Larry Rothschild.
“Maybe this is a blessing in disguise,” Wilken said. “Not for Boise and not for the selfish Tim Wilken, who wants to see him in a game.”
Carrie Muskat is a reporter for MLB.com.
Athletic Conference Change Update
RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – The chief executive officers of nine universities in Arkansas and Oklahoma announced on Tuesday, July 13, 2010, that they intend to apply to the National Collegiate Athletic Association for permission to create a new NCAA Division II conference.
The members of the proposed new conference would be the University of Arkansas at Monticello, Arkansas Tech University, East Central (Okla.) University, Harding University, Henderson State University, Ouachita Baptist University, Southeastern Oklahoma State University, Southern Arkansas University and Southwestern Oklahoma State University.
“The intent of the conference is to group together similar institutions in terms of budgets and goals,” said the presidents, chancellors and directors of athletics from the nine institutions in a joint statement. “Furthermore, the conference is intended to be made up of universities that field an intercollegiate football program. Our most important goals in this new endeavor are to limit time away from class and limit our travel costs.”
The nine member institutions plan to submit a conference strategic plan, a conference constitution and conference by-laws to the NCAA by Dec. 1, 2010.
No decisions have been made regarding the name of the new conference or the location of the conference office.
The pursuit of creating the new conference will not affect athletic schedules for the 2010-11 academic year.
STATEMENT REGARDING POSSIBLE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE CHANGE
STATEMENT FROM:
Jack Lassiter, Chancellor, University of Arkansas at Monticello
Robert C. Brown, President, Arkansas Tech University
John Hargrave, President, East Central University
David Burks, President, Harding University
Charles Welch, President, Henderson State University
Rex Horne, President, Ouachita Baptist University
Larry Minks, President, Southeastern Oklahoma State University
David Rankin, President, Southern Arkansas University
Randy Beutler, President, Southwestern Oklahoma State University
The presidents, chancellors and directors of athletics from the University of Arkansas at Monticello, Arkansas Tech University, East Central (Okla.) University, Harding University, Henderson State University, Ouachita Baptist University, Southeastern Oklahoma State University, Southern Arkansas University and Southwestern Oklahoma State University held a meeting in Russellville, Ark., Friday to discuss the possibility of forming a new NCAA Division II conference.
Our ongoing discussion is producing positive results as we analyze the feasibility of creating a new conference that would reduce the amount of missed class time by our student-athletes and reduce our operating costs.
We found during the course of our meeting that we have similar concerns and that we are like-minded in our approach to intercollegiate athletics.
Regardless of the final results of these discussions, our athletic schedules for the 2010-11 academic year will not be affected.
SAU’s Lester Inks with Giants
By: Houston Taylor
MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Former Southern Arkansas All-America third baseman Cannon Lester (El Dorado) has signed a free agent contract with the San Francisco Giants. Lester is the seventh player from the 
2010 Mulerider team that was either drafted or signed as a free agent this year.
One of 38 semi-finalists for the 2010 Division II Tino Martinez National Player of the Year award, Lester concluded his season this spring hitting .396 with 25 doubles, two triples, 15 home runs, 76 RBI, had .754 slugging and .532 on-base percentages and scored a school record 89 runs. A four-year starter and two-year All-American, Lester set Gulf South Conference career marks of 75 doubles and 247 runs scored, and shares the record for hit by pitch with 68. He literally re-wrote the SAU record book, owning nine career, two season and two single-game marks.
Lester flew out Tuesday and will start his career with San Francisco’s Arizona Summer League (Rookie) team. In signing with the Giants’ organization, Lester joins former teammate Skyler Stromsmoe (Etzikom, Alberta, Canada), who currently is a starting infielder for the Richmond Flying Squirrels, the Giants’ Class AA team in Virginia. Stromsmoe was a senior at Southern Arkansas in 2007 when Lester was a freshman.
Simpson One of GSC’s Top Ten Award Winners
By: Houston Taylor, SID
MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Newly signed Chicago Cub and former Southern Arkansas star pitcher Hayden Simpson (Magnolia) has been named one 
of the Gulf South Conference’s 2010 Top Ten Award winners as released Tuesday by the conference office.
The awards annually recognize the top five male and top five female student-athletes from across the league. Based on their athletic, academic and extracurricular achievements, this year’s winners are considered the elite of the GSC during the past 2009-10 athletic/academic year. Of the 10, a top male and female will be selected to receive the Commissioner’s Trophy, the conference’s most prestigious honor. Those presentations will be made Thursday at the GSC’s annual awards banquet at the Embassy Suites in Hoover, Ala.
The “Top Ten” are selected with the assistance of an advisory committee represented by athletic directors, senior women’s administrators, sports information directors, faculty athletic representatives and CEO’s from randomly selected GSC member schools. Their recommendations are provided to the league commissioner who has the final decision.
Simpson posted a 13-1 mark this season with a 1.81 ERA in 15 appearances, tossing six complete games with three shutouts, while striking out 131 and walking only 35 in 99 1/3 innings. His performances on the field in 2010 earned him 14 national and regional honors, including garnering first team All-America and national pitcher of the year laurels on all three post-season baseball teams, and he was runner-up for the inaugural Tino Martinez Division II national player of the year, winning the on-line voting portion of the award with over 8,000 votes cast.
The biggest honor came later though, when he was chosen June 7 in the first round of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft as the 16th overall selection by the Cubs, making him the highest draftee in SAU history and the fourth all-time in the GSC to be taken in the first round.
Simpson’s three-year numbers at Southern Arkansas are staggering, recording a career 35-2 record and 2.39 ERA in 48 appearances and 39 starts. He totaled 13 complete games and seven shutouts, with a 
school record 323 strikeouts in 271 innings, while limiting opponents to a .196 batting average against him. He surrendered only 190 hits and 72 earned runs in facing 1,110 hitters in his Mulerider career.
Simpson is SAU’s third Top Ten baseball honoree in the past four years, and is one of only two juniors among this year’s “Top Ten”. He is joined in the men’s field by senior basketball guard Brandon Friedel (Arkansas Tech), senior baseball shortstop Jon Koenigsfeld (Valdosta State), senior golfer Brett Munson (North Alabama) and junior cross country athlete Josh Moshier (Alabama-Huntsville). Koenigsfeld was a Top Ten honoree last year.
The women’s field, all seniors, consists of two returning members from a year ago in soccer player Courtney Jones (West Florida) and last year’s Commissioner’s Trophy winner in volleyball libero Bethany Wright (Henderson State). They are joined by cross country athlete Katy Grant (Harding), tennis player Natali Gumbrecht (Valdosta State) and softball outfielder Becca Tipton (Arkansas-Monticello).
Simpson Signs with Cubs
By: Houston Taylor
CHICAGO – Hayden Simpson’s (Magnolia) first trip to Wrigley Field will be a memorable one as the former Southern Arkansas All-American and recent top draft pick of the Chicago Cubs was in the city over the weekend and signed Saturday with the club.
Chosen as the 16th overall selection in last week’s Major League Baseball draft, Simpson signed for a $1.06 million bonus. Terms of a contract were not disclosed.
Simpson and his family were present Saturday as the Cubs hosted the Los Angeles Angels. WGN broadcast the noon game and Simpson’s signing was announced early by commentators Len Kasper and Bob Brenly. Footage was shown early in the game of the Cubs’ two “ball kids” for the day in the dugout prior to the game holding baseballs bearing Simpson’s autograph.
Kasper noted, “Those two hope that those baseballs will be worth a lot of money someday.”
Simpson threw a bullpen session prior to the game for Cubs pitching coach Larry Rothschild. Although it was before the crowd arrived, it was still a thrill for Simpson.
“It’s great,” Simpson stated. “Walking through the tunnel, walking onto the field, it’s feeling like you’ve arrived. It’s been fun and great. It’s so historic, and to be a part of the Chicago Cubs organization is a great feeling.”
Cubs pitcher Ted Lilly, who was starting the game against the Angels, watched Simpson’s workout and was reportedly impressed by his fastball, curve and slider.
Area Cubs scout Jim Crawford, who recommended Simpson, was also present at the workout.
“[Simpson’s] a hard working tough-nosed pitcher…He will challenge hitters, he’s got four-plus pitches and he’s an excellent, excellent kid.”
Simpson mentioned that some of the pitchers he liked to watch while growing up were Roger Clemens, Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux. Maddux is now an assistant to Cubs general manager Jim Hendry.
“[Maddux] is going to have to keep me away from him, because I’m going to be bugging him,” Simpson said.
A specific day wasn’t announced of when he would report, but Simpson will be going to Mesa, Ariz., in the Cubs’ summer league almost immediately, before joining their Class A Boise team in Idaho.
