C-USA Preseason Baseball Results Released; Owls First in East

BOCA RATON, Fla. – With a little more than a week remaining before the 2021 season gets underway, Conference USA released its preseason team rankings and All-Conference Team on Thursday. The league coaches voted Florida Atlantic University first in the C-USA East Division, with two Owls chosen as preseason All-C-USA.

The Owls received 10 of a possible 12 first-place votes in the East to outdistance runner-up Old Dominion (who garnered one of the other two FPV) and third-place FIU (who received the other). The league has moved to two divisions and more geographically friendly conference play for this season. In the West, Southern Miss was voted first, also receiving 10 first-place votes, ahead of Louisiana Tech (the other two FPV) and Rice.

On the 15-member preseason All-Conference Team, repeating for the second straight season is senior rightfielder Bobby Morgensen, and joining him, in a tie for the DH/utility slot, is sophomore Mitchell Hartigan, who doubles as the Owls’ starting leftfielder as well as filling the role as the team’s closer.

Bobby Morgensen

Morgensen returns for his third year after his 2020 senior season was cut short due to COVID-19. In 70 games at FAU, he is a .303 hitter, with 14 home runs and 58 RBI. Hartigan too is a third-year member of the program, with a .319 average, seven home runs and 42 RBI. He also notched two saves in three scoreless appearances on the mound in 2020.

Of active Owls returning for ’21, Hartigan is the top hitter by lifetime average and with 19 doubles, and Morgensen leads in most of the other offensive categories (homers, RBI, hits with 80, runs with 49 and slugging percentage, .519).

Mitchell Hartigan

“Rankings are fun, great water cooler talk, but you still have to perform on the field,” said head coach John McCormack. “It certainly is a nice preseason accolade for the program and the players. Bobby and Mitch have worked hard and played well over the last few years and their recognition is well-deserved.”

Here is the preseason C-USA accolades in full:

PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH (first place votes in parentheses)
EAST
1. Florida Atlantic (10)
2. Old Dominion (1)
3. FIU (1)
4. WKU
5. Charlotte
6. Marshall

WEST
1. Southern Miss (10)
2. Louisiana Tech (2)
3. Rice
4. Middle Tennessee
5. UTSA
6. UAB

PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Parker Bates, Louisiana Tech (Senior OF)

PITCHER OF THE YEAR
Walker Powell, Southern Miss (Senior RHP)

ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
SP – Gabe Shepard, So., Southern Miss
SP – Hunter Gregory, Jr., Old Dominion
SP – Walker Powell, Sr., Southern Miss
RP – Hunter Stanley, Sr., Southern Miss
C – J Paul Fullerton, Sr., UAB
IF – Derek Cartaya, r-Sr., FIU
IF – Brett Coker, So., Middle Tennessee
IF – Braden Comeaux, Sr., Rice
IF – Hunter Wells, Sr., Louisiana Tech
IF – Taylor Young, Sr., Louisiana Tech
OF – Parker Bates, Sr., Louisiana Tech
OF – Bobby Morgensen, Sr., Florida Atlantic
OF – Gabe Montenegro, Jr., Southern Miss
DH/UT – Mitchell Hartigan, So., Florida Atlantic
DH/UT – Davis Sims, Sr., WKU

FAU is on the road for Opening Night, next Friday, Feb. 19, traveling to Orlando to take on UCF. The Owls and Knights will then come to Boca Raton to finish off the final two games of the three-game set, Saturday night and Sunday afternoon at FAU Baseball Stadium.