FRISCO, Texas – Three Southeastern Louisiana University baseball players were named to the All-Conference squad, the Southland Conference announced Monday in conjunction with the release of its postseason award winners.

Third baseman Jesse Buratt, shortstop Ben Hernandez and outfielder Harry Slade were named to the third team. Freshmen Jameson Fisher and Tate Scioneaux each received an honorable mention.

Buratt owns the third-highest batting average (.281) while leading the team in doubles (11) and hit-by-pitches (11). The junior from Prairieville, La., has walked (22) more than he has struck out (21) and has compiled a .388 on-base percentage.

Hernandez is hitting .315, second-highest on the team, with 30 runs scored and 26 RBIs. A senior from Baton Rouge, La., he leads Southeastern with 11 sacrifice bunts.

Slade leads the team with a .323 average, 35 RBIs and 13 stolen bases. The senior from Baltimore, Md., was an honorable mention in 2012.

Fisher is tied for the team lead in batting average (.323) and doubles (11) while owning the team's best on-base percentage (.409). Scioneaux has compiled a 6-3 record with a 3.70 ERA, the most wins on the staff and second-best ERA among Lion starting pitchers. He also leads the team in strikeouts (82) and innings pitched (90.0).

Stephen F. Austin shortstop Hunter Dozier was named the Southland Conference Player of the Year and the league's hitter of the year, becoming the second Lumberjack to collect both awards in the last three seasons.

Dozier's teammate, senior right-handed pitcher Brett Higginbotham, was named the conference's relief pitcher of the year, while Oral Roberts junior right-handed pitcher Alex Gonzalez was named the Southland pitcher of the year. McNeese State freshman right-handed pitcher Bryce Kingsley was named the freshman of the year and Lamar junior shortstop Sam Bumpers was the newcomer of the year. Sam Houston State head coach David Pierce was named the Clay Gould Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season.

Dozier leads the league in home runs with 17, which ranks among the top three players in NCAA Division I. The junior from Denton, Texas, hit an astonishing .394 on the year with 80 hits and accumulated 154 total bases. The junior drove in 50 runs to go with 23 doubles and 12 stolen bases. He also led the league in batting average, doubles, RBI, total bases and slugging percentage (.759), while ranking in the Southland's top five in four other categories, including hits (second), on-base percentage (second, .483), runs scored (third, 47) and walks (fifth, 34). Dozier enters the tournament having reached base safely in 45 consecutive games.

Gonzalez was named the Southland's top pitcher after leading the league with a 1.76 earned-run average. He is the only Southland pitcher this season to have a sub 2.00 ERA and sports the seventh-lowest single-season ERA in conference history. The junior from Delray Beach, Fla., tossed 107.1 innings while allowing 21 earned runs. The Golden Eagle accumulated 125 strikeouts and averaged 10.48 per nine innings while striking out the fifth-most batters in Southland history for a single season. In 14 starts, Gonzalez picked up eight wins and walked only 23 batters while limiting opponents to a .198 batting average against him.

Higginbotham is the fifth recipient of the conference's relief pitcher of the year award and is the first Lumberjack. The senior from Hutto, Texas (Hutto H.S.), was 4-2 with a 1.88 ERA and allowed only nine earned runs in 43 innings. He tied for fourth in the conference with 25 appearances and struck out 37 batters. Opponents got just three extra-base hits against him and managed to hit just .156.

Kingsley becomes the third Cowboy to be named the league's freshman of the year, joining Dooley Prince in 2002 and Bryan Cartie in 2005. The freshman from Lake Charles, La. (Barbe H.S.), tied for fourth in the Southland with eight wins and tossed the seventh-most innings (94.2). He finished fifth in the league with a 2.57 ERA, while opponents batted .228 against him.

Bumpers earned the newcomer of the year award after finishing sixth in batting average (.341). The transfer from Iowa Western Community College played in 54 games and racked up 34 RBI. He introduced himself to the conference with an eight-RBI opening weekend. Bumpers slugged .491 with a .406 on-base percentage and collected 19 doubles.  The junior from Bourbannais, Ill. (Bradley-Bourbonnais H.S.), is the first Cardinal to win the award and led Lamar to its first 30-win season since 2010. Bumpers finished the regular season ranked second in total bases (105) and fourth in both hits (73) and runs scored (46).

After guiding the Bearkats to a second consecutive regular-season title, Sam Houston's Pierce repeated as the Southland coach of the year. Sam Houston finished 20-7 in conference play and will take a 36-18 overall record as the top seed into conference tournament later this week. After dropping back-to-back conference series in mid-April, the Bearkats responded to win 14 of their final 15 games. During conference play, they posted seven series wins and four sweeps. Pierce is the first Southland coach to win consecutive honors since Texas-San Antonio's Sherman Corbett (2007-08).

Lamar leads all league team with eight student-athletes on the three all-conference teams, including three on the first team and five on the second team. Cardinal senior second baseman V.J. Bunner, senior outfielder Darian Johnson and senior pitcher Eric Harrington earned first-team honors, while Bumpers, senior first baseman Brad Picha, senior third baseman Aaron Olivas, senior designated hitter Seth Dornak and junior pitcher Jonathan Dziedzic were named to the second team.

Regular-season runner-up Texas A&M-Corpus Christi joined Lamar in placing three players on the first team, including senior first baseman Brad Porras, senior outfielder Eric Weiss and senior designated hitter Jonathan Gonzales. Regular-season champion Sam Houston and Central Arkansas also placed two on the first team. The Bearkat's first-team selections include senior third baseman Kevin Miller and junior catcher Anthony Azar, while the Bears placed senior outfielder Forrest Allday and senior pitcher Caleb McClanahan on the top squad. The squad is rounded out by SFA's Dozier at shortstop and ORU's Gonzalez at pitcher.

A&M-Corpus Christi was second with six players on the three all-conference teams, followed by Sam Houston State (five) and Central Arkansas (four). McNeese State, Oral Roberts, Southeastern Louisiana and Stephen F. Austin each placed three on the squads, while Nicholls State had one selection.

Another 18 student-athletes earned honorable mention after earning votes from at least 25 percent of the league's coaches and sports information directors.

The 2013 Southland Conference Baseball Tournament gets underway Wednesday at Constellation Field in Sugar Land, Texas. Tickets to the event are available online at www.SugarLandSkeeters.com. All games of the tournament will be streamed live on the Southland Conference Digital Network, with the exception of the championship game, which is available exclusively on ESPN3. The winner of the double-elimination tournament earns the league's automatic berth into the NCAA tournament, which starts May 31 with regional play.

2013 Southland Conference Individual Awards
Player of the Year: Hunter Dozier, Stephen F. Austin
Hitter of the Year: Hunter Dozier, Stephen F. Austin
Pitcher of the Year: Alex Gonzalez, Oral Roberts
Relief Pitcher of the Year: Brett Higginbotham, Stephen F. Austin
Freshman of the Year: Bryce Kingsley, McNeese State
Newcomer of the Year: Sam Bumpers, Lamar
Clay Gould Coach of the Year: David Pierce, Sam Houston State

2013 Southland All-Conference Teams
First Team
Pos.	Name	University	Class	Hometown
1B	Brad Porras	A&M-Corpus Christi	Sr.	Needville, Texas
2B	V.J. Bunner	Lamar	Sr.	Vidor, Texas
3B	Kevin Miller2	Sam Houston State	Sr.	Pearland, Texas
SS	Hunter Dozier2	Stephen F. Austin	Jr.	Denton, Texas
OF	Darian Johnson2	Lamar	Sr.	Chandler, Ariz.
OF	Eric Weiss	A&M-Corpus Christi	Sr.	Houston, Texas
OF	Forrest Allday2	Central Arkansas	Sr.	Friendswood, Texas
C	Anthony Azar2	Sam Houston State	Jr.	The Woodlands, Texas
DH	Jonathan Gonzales2	A&M-Corpus Christi	Sr.	Buda, Texas
P	Alex Gonzalez	Oral Roberts	Jr.	Delray Beach, Fla.
P	Caleb McClanahan	Central Arkansas	Sr.	Wynne, Ark.
P	Eric Harrington2	Lamar	Sr.	Groves, Texas
Second Team
Pos.	Name	University	Class	Hometown
1B	Brad Picha	Lamar	Sr.	Stevensville, Texas
2B	Jessie Plumlee	Sam Houston State	Sr.	Rowlett, Texas
3B	Aaron Olivas	Lamar	Sr.	El Paso, Texas
SS	Sam Bumpers	Lamar	Jr.	Bourbornnais, Ill.
OF	Luke Plucheck	Sam Houston State	Jr.	Tomball, Texas
OF	Ricardo Sanchez	Stephen F. Austin	Jr.	Houston, Texas
OF	Jackson Gooch	McNeese State	Jr.	Delta, British Columbia
C	Michael Marietta	Central Arkansas	Sr.	Oak View, Calif.
DH	Seth Dornak	Lamar	Sr.	Pearland, Texas
P	Caleb Smith2	Sam Houston State	Jr.	Huntsville, Texas
P	Jonathan Dziedzic	Lamar	Jr.	Humble, Texas
P	Brett Higginbotham	Stephen F. Austin	Sr.	Hutto, Texas
Third Team
Pos.	Name	University	Class	Hometown
1B	Chayse Marion	McNeese State	Jr.	Red Deez, Alberta
2B	Cody Stephens	A&M-Corpus Christi	Jr.	Concord, Calif.
3B	Jesse Buratt	Southeastern La.	Jr.	Gonzales, La.
SS	Ben Hernandez	Southeastern La.	Sr.	Zachary, La.
OF	Harry Slade	Southeastern La.	Sr.	Baltimore, Md.
OF	Matt Richard	Nicholls State	Sr.	Gonzales, La.
OF	Jonathan Davis3	Central Arkansas	Jr.	Camden, Ark.
C	Jose Trevino	Oral Roberts	So.	Corpus Christi, Texas
DH	Tyler Boss	Oral Roberts	Jr.	Spring, Texas
P	Trevor Foss	A&M-Corpus Christi	Sr.	Janesville, Wis.
P	Trevor Belicek	A&M-Corpus Christi	So.	Uvalde, Texas
P	Blake Ware	McNeese State	Sr.	White Oak, Texas

Honorable Mention – First Base: Max Lamantia, Stephen F. Austin. Second Base: Blake Marchal, Central Arkansas; Freddy Villalobos, Stephen F. Austin. Third Base: Brandon Tierney, A&M-Corpus Christi. Shortstop: Carter Burgess, Sam Houston State. Outfield: Will Watson, Northwestern State; Jordan Lee, A&M-Corpus Christi; Colt Atwood, Sam Houston State; Kevin Cho, Oral Roberts. Catcher: Zach Luevanos, Lamar. Designated Hitter: Jameson Fisher, Southeastern La.; Hayden Simerly, Sam Houston State. Pitchers: Cody Dickson, Sam Houston State; Chase Greening, Stephen F. Austin; Bryce Biggerstaff, Central Arkansas; Bryce Kingsley, McNeese State; Jeff Enloe, Central Arkansas; Tate Scioneaux, Southeastern La.