FRISCO, Texas – In just his second season, Nicholls State University head baseball coach Mike Silva has been named 2023 Southland Conference Clay Gould Coach of the Year, while pitcher Jacob Mayers became the first Colonel to earn SLC Freshman of the Year as the league office announced Monday afternoon its 2023 Baseball All-Southland Teams and awards.
 
Mayers was one of four Colonels to be named All-Southland First Team, joined by senior outfielder Xane Washington and junior first baseman Edgar Alvarez and junior shortstop Parker Coddou. Redshirt sophomore Gavin Galy earned second team for relief pitcher.
 
Three Colonels were also recognized for their performances on defense as Alvarez, Coddou and Washington garnered All-Defensive. It marked the second straight season Washington was all-defensive in right field. 
 
Silva led Nicholls to its first Southland Regular Season Title in school history and the No. 1 seed in this week's SLC Tournament. After the Colonels were voted sixth out of nine teams in the preseason poll, Nicholls won five of its eight SLC series which included a pair of sweeps to finish with a league best 15-9 league record.
 
Under Silva, the Colonels won 30 games for the first time since 2015. Nicholls claimed nonconference wins at No. 1 LSU, Nebraska and Louisiana Tech and secured series wins against Memphis and ULM. 
 
Silva is the second coach in program history to earn the SLC's top honor, joining Seth Thibodeaux (2014).
 
Mayers posted an outstanding rookie season, going 8-1 and ranking second in the Southland in ERA (2.15), and first in strikeouts (92) and opponent batting average (.169). The Gonzales, Louisiana native was also among the NCAA leaders as he ranked eighth in ERA, second in hits per 9 innings and 12th in strikeouts per nine innings.
 
Mayers struck out a career-high 11 batters in the victory at Louisiana Tech and in his lone loss, gave up just a single run at ULM. He allowed two or fewer hits in seven starts and struck out at least four batters in every appearance. In conference, Mayers was 5-0 and led the SLC in ERA, strikeouts, and was second only to teammate Nico Saltaformaggio in opponent batting average.
 
Alvarez followed up an all-league season by finishing in top 10 in the Southland in batting with a .335 average. He also ranked in the top 10 in doubles (17) while finishing with six homers and 36 RBIs. The Orlando, Florida native racked up 20 multi-hit games and led the team with seven three-hit outings. On defense, he had no fielding errors all season with his lone miscue coming on a wide throw trying to turn a double play. 
 
Coddou had another outstanding season at shortstop while serving as the leadoff hitter for the Colonels, batting .293 for the season with 13 doubles, six triples and six home runs. His triples tied for second in the SLC and despite hitting at the top of the batting order, was third on the team with 32 RBIs. For the season, the Thibodaux native has totaled 19 multi-hit games including a 5-for-6 effort where he hit for the cycle in a win at Nebraska. Coddou continued to be a defensive standout with numerous highlight plays, including the game-ending diving catch to beat No. 1 LSU.
 
Washington had a breakout season after earning all-conference last year, finishing as the league's third-leading hitter with a .375 average. He also ranked in the top 10 in doubles (17), triples (4), and RBIs (44). The Houma, Louisiana native racked up 25 multi-hit games and had the longest hitting streak in the SLC this season, piecing together a remarkable 19-game streak. A two-time SLC Hitter of the Week, Washington was stellar in right field again with seven outfield assists and just one error. 
 
Galy made 17 appearances out of the bullpen, totaling 30.0 innings with a 2.10 ERA. In conference play, he had an impressive .162 opponent batting average. Galy tossed 3.1 hitless innings against Northwestern State and also had 1-hit showings in four-plus innings versus HCU and three-plus against Lamar.
 
For the rest of the superlative awards, Lamar's Ryan Snell was named Player of the Year, New Orleans' Tristan Moore was Hitter of the Year, McNeese's Grant Rogers was Pitcher of the Year, UIW's Steve Hayward was Relief Pitcher of the Year, UIW's Rey Mendoza was the Newcomer of the Year.
 
The awards were announced ahead of the 2023 Southland Conference Baseball Championship, which will be played Tuesday-Saturday, May 23-27 in Lake Charles, La., at McNeese's Joe Miller Ballpark. Nicholls takes on the winner of No. 6 McNeese vs. No. 7 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. First pitch on Wednesday night is scheduled for 6 p.m.
 

Player of the Year: Ryan Snell, Lamar
Hitter of the Year: Tristan Moore, New Orleans
Pitcher of the Year: Grant Rogers, McNeese
Relief Pitcher of the Year: Steve Hayward, UIW
Freshman of the Year: Jacob Mayers, Nicholls
Newcomer of the Year: Rey Mendoza, UIW
Clay Gould Coach of the Year: Mike Silva, Nicholls

2023 All-Southland Conference First Team

Pos.	Name	School	Class	Hometown
1B	Edgar Alvarez	Nicholls	Jr.	Orlando, Fla.
2B	Tyler Bischke	New Orleans	Jr.	Pittsburgh, Pa.
3B	Michael Dattalo	Northwestern State	Fr.	Keller, Texas
SS	Parker Coddou	Nicholls	Jr.	Thibodaux, La.
C	Ryan Snell	Lamar	Sr.	Hardin, Texas
DH	Rey Mendoza	UIW	Gr.	Eagle Pass, Texas
OF	Xane Washington	Nicholls	R-Sr.	Houma, La.
OF	Tristan Moore	New Orleans	Jr.	St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands
OF	Brendan Ryan	A&M-Corpus Christi	Sr.	Leawood, Kan.
SP	Grant Rogers	McNeese	Jr.	Groves, Texas
SP	Jacob Mayers	Nicholls	Fr.	Gonzales, La.
SP	Brandon Mitchell	New Orleans	Sr.	Houston, Texas
RP	Steve Hayward	UIW	R-Sr.	Flower Mound, Texas
U	Alec Carr	UIW	Sr.	Sugar Land, Texas

 
2023 All-Southland Conference Second Team

Pos.	Name	School	Class	Hometown
1B	Anthony Herron, Jr.	New Orleans	Sr.	Chicago, Ill.
2B	Brad Burckel	McNeese	Sr.	Lindale, Texas
3B	Reed Chumley	HCU	Jr.	Cypress, Texas
SS	Jake Haze	Northwestern State	Jr.	Highlands Ranch, Colo.
C	Hernan Yanez	UIW	Sr.	San Luis, Ariz.
DH	Tre Jones	A&M-Corpus Christi	Jr.	Houston, Texas
OF	Mitchell Sanford	New Orleans	R-So.	Berwick, La.
OF	Jeffrey Elkins	Northwestern State	Sr.	Lafayette, La.
OF	Samuel Benjamin	HCU	Jr.	Katy, Texas
SP	Brooks Caple	Lamar	Jr.	Gunter, Texas
SP	Hunter Hesseltine	Lamar	So.	Topeka, Kan.
SP	Alex Makarewich	Northwestern State	Jr.	Keller, Texas
RP	Gavin Galy	Nicholls	R-So.	Orlando, Fla.
U	Max Puls	A&M-Corpus Christi	Sr.	Palm Desert, Calif.

2023 Southland Conference All-Defensive Team

Pos.	Name	School	Class	Hometown
1B	Edgar Alvarez	Nicholls	Jr.	Orlando, Fla.
2B	Jimmy DeLeon	UIW	Sr.	El Paso, Texas
3B	Alec Carr	UIW	Sr.	Sugar Land, Texas
SS	Parker Coddou	Nicholls	Jr.	Thibodaux, La.
C	Ryan Snell	Lamar	Sr.	Hardin, Texas
LF	Cooper Hext	McNeese	Jr.	DeQuincy, La.
CF	Tyler Finke	Southeastern	Gr.	Columbus, Ind.
RF	Xane Washington	Nicholls	R-Sr.	Houma, La.
P	Grant Rogers	McNeese	Jr.	Groves, Texas

 

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