FARMVILLE, Va. – After finishing the regular season second place in the conference and securing its highest ever conference tournament seed, Longwood's baseball team continued its record-setting season as a school-record four Lancers were selected to the Big South All-Conference teams as announced by the conference Monday afternoon.
 
Senior right-handed starting pitcher Travis Burnette was selected to the first team, junior designated hitter Alex Lewis and senior first baseman Connar Bastaich each made the second team, and sophomore left-handed relief pitcher Michael Catlin was named to the All-Academic team. The All-Conference awards for Burnette, Lewis, Bastaich, and Catlin are all the first of their careers.
 
"It is great to see our players recognized by the league for their athletic and academic achievements," Longwood second-year head coach Ryan Mau said.
 
The Lancers finished the regular season with a 30-25 record, 14-10 in conference play, with the most wins in league play in four years in the Big South and the first 30-win season as a Division-I program. The four All-Conference selections set a new school record for a single season, as did the two Second-Team All-Conference selections.
 
Burnette, a native of Lynchburg, Va., became just the second Longwood pitcher to make the First-Team All-Conference and the third player overall to receive the award. Burnette dazzled during the regular season, finishing second in the league with a 2.21 ERA, which is the lowest for a Lancer since Aaron Myers posted a 1.76 ERA in 2014 and was First-Team All-Conference. Burnette posted a 7-1 record and the Lancers were 12-2 in games he started.
 
"Travis has had a tremendous season," Mau said. "He is our leader and has been one of the toughest and most feared pitchers in our league."
 
A senior and co-captain for the Lancers, Burnette posted his best season for Longwood and finished the regular season with the league's lowest batting average against at .211, and finished fourth with 79 strikeouts.
 
Bastaich, a native of Midlothian, Va., finished his regular season with a team-high 22 multi-hit games and hit .335 while manning first base in all 55 games for the Lancers.
 
"Connar has been 'Mr. Consistency' for us by playing in every single game over the past two years," Mau said. "He has been a plus defender at first and continues to step up time and time again to deliver the clutch hit when needed."
 
Bastaich, a preseason First-Team selection by CollegeSportsMadness.com, finished the regular season with nine doubles, 32 RBI, and his first two career home runs. A transfer from Potomac State Community College after his sophomore season, Bastaich has posted a career .323 average and started all 111 games in two seasons with the Lancers.
 
Lewis, a native of Burke, Va., had a breakout campaign as a junior. Lewis set career highs in hits, average, games played, games started, RBI, total bases, doubles, home runs, and slugging percentage, leading the Lancers in virtually every offensive category.
 
"Alex has put together a tremendous offensive season," Mau said. "He has stepped up in a much-needed role and become one of the league's most dangerous hitters."
 
Lewis finished 10th in conference with a .353 batting average, seventh with 76 hits, ninth with 43 RBI, and fourth with 20 doubles. The two Second-Team All-Big South selections are just the third and fourth all-time for Longwood.
 
Catlin, a native of New Market, Md., made his mark in the bullpen for the Lancers, while the Business Administration major handled his business academically, as well.
 
"Michael has done an excellent job on the field and in the classroom," Mau said. "He continues to lead by example in all that he does."
 
On the field Catlin posted a 2.78 ERA in 22 appearances and a 1.96 ERA in a team-high 36.2 innings out of the bullpen across 20 relief outings with a team-high 15 scoreless outings.
 
The season for the Lancers continues in the Big South Championship in Lexington, S.C. The Lancers play the second game of the day Tuesday, approximately 45 minutes after the conclusion of the 9:30 a.m. game between the second-seeded High Point Panthers and the seven-seed, Liberty. The Lancers, the three-seed, face the sixth-seeded Winthrop Eagles Tuesday.

FIRST-TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE
OF    Connor Owings, Sr., Coastal Carolina
OF    D.J. Artis, Fr., Liberty
OF    Danny Sullivan, Jr., Gardner-Webb
INF   Zach Remillard, Sr., Coastal Carolina
INF   Collin Thacker, Jr., Gardner-Webb
INF   Chris Clare, Jr., High Point
INF   Matt Parrish, Sr., Campbell
C       Justin Kunz, Fr., Gardner-Webb
UTL  Andrew Yacyk, Jr., Liberty
DH    G.K. Young, Jr., Coastal Carolina
SP     Andrew Beckwith, Jr., Coastal Carolina
SP     Brad Haymes, Sr., Gardner-Webb
SP     Travis Burnette, Sr., Longwood
RP     Mike Morrison, Sr., Coastal Carolina
 
SECOND-TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE
OF    Anthony Paulsen, Jr., Winthrop
OF    Weston Jackson, R-Jr., Presbyterian College
OF    Joe Tietjen, Jr., UNC Asheville
INF   Michael Paez, Jr., Coastal Carolina
INF   Dominic Fazio, Sr., High Point
INF   Danny Hrbek, Jr., Radford
INF   Connar Bastaich, Sr., Longwood
C       Roger Gonzalez, Sr., Winthrop
UTL  Kevin Hickey, Sr., Charleston Southern
DH    Alex Lewis, Jr., Longwood
SP     Grant Yost, Sr., Campbell
SP     Alex Cunningham, R-Jr., Coastal Carolina
SP     Andrew Gottfried, Fr., High Point
RP     Wil Sellers, R-Soph., Gardner-Webb
 
HONORABLE MENTION ALL-CONFERENCE
OF    Billy Cooke, Soph., Coastal Carolina
INF   Anthony Lopez, Sr., Campbell
SP     Jeremy Walker, Jr., Gardner-Webb
INF   Mark Lowrie, Sr., Winthrop                                            
OF    Sly Edwards, Sr., Charleston Southern                          
 
ALL-ACADEMIC TEAM
Matt Parrish, Sr., Campbell
Daniel Johnson, Soph., Charleston Southern
Tyler Chadwick, Sr., Coastal Carolina
Patrick Graham, Sr., Gardner-Webb
Tyler Britton, Sr., High Point
Andrew Yacyk, Jr., Liberty
Michael Catlin, Soph., Longwood
AJ Priaulx, Soph., Presbyterian College
Tyler Swarmer, Sr., Radford
Joe Tietjen, Jr., UNC Asheville
Zach Cook, Sr., Winthrop
 
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Connor Owings, OF, Sr., Coastal Carolina
 
PITCHER OF THE YEAR
Andrew Beckwith, RHP, Jr., Coastal Carolina
 
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
D.J. Artis, OF, Fr., Liberty
 
COACH OF THE YEAR
Gary Gilmore, Coastal Carolina
 
SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Patrick Graham, 1B, Sr., Gardner-Webb
 

 
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