VALDOSTA, GA – Four Valdosta State baseball players have been named to the All-Gulf South Conference Baseball team in a vote of the GSC coaches, as announced by the conference office Monday.

Leading the group was designated hitter Bryant Hayman, who earned first team honors for the third straight season. Hayman, a junior who split time between catcher, first base and DH, batted .333 and scored 30 runs on the season while leading the GSC with 50 runs batted in. He also led the league in home runs with nine and in slugging percentage, at .631, and finished second in the conference with 13 doubles and 89 total bases. Hayman was also perfect on all 11 of his stolen base attempts on the season.

He was joined on the first team All-GSC squad by senior second baseman Matthew Fears. Fears, who was a first team All-GSC outfielder last year, batted .374 on the season, third-best in the Gulf South Conference. He also ranked among the league leaders in slugging percentage (fifth at .503), runs scored (6th/38), hits (3rd/58), doubles (1st/15) and total bases (5th/78).

VSU’s final representative on the first team All-Conference squad was junior shortstop Mike Reed. Reed, who is the only Blazer to start all 40 games this season at a single position, led the GSC with 48 runs scored and was second in the conference with 20 stolen bases. He also finished the year sixth in the GSC stats in batting average at .368 and second in on-base percentage at .478 while standing ninth in hits with 53. He tallied the fourth-most walks in the conference as he tallied 24 on the year and was ninth in the league in hit by pitch with eight.

Earning second team All-GSC honors was third baseman Michael Gouge. A sophomore, Gouge batted .340 on the season and drove in 13 runs. He was sixth in the league standings in on-base percentage at .451 and scored 23 runs. Of his 34 hits on the season, he tallied six doubles and one triple for a .430 slugging percentage.

The Blazers close out their 2014 regular season Tuesday evening at 5:00 p.m. when they host Georgia College at Billy Grant Field. Valdosta State will honor its five seniors prior to the game.

VSU opens play in the 2014 Red Zone Sports Bar and Grill GSC Tournament at Friday at 5:00 p.m. when the fifth-seeded Blazers play No. 4 seed West Alabama at Young Memorial Field in Birmingham, Ala.

Source: Valdosta State University Athletics