HAMMOND, La. – Five Southeastern Louisiana players, including Drew Avans, Corey Gaconi, Josh Green, Cody Grosse and Carlisle Koestler, earned All-Southland Conference baseball honors, the league office announced Monday.
 
Two players, Avans and Gaconi, earned All-Conference honors for the second time in their career.
 
Avans' well-rounded offensive numbers earned him a spot on the first team. He led the Lions with a .337 batting average, which ranks 12th in the conference, 13 doubles, 10 home runs, 43 walks and 20 stolen bases. Avans also scored 50 runs and drove in another 43. The stolen bases and walks are second, home runs are third, runs scored are fourth and RBI are 10th in the Southland. His .587 slugging percentage ranks third and .468 on-base percentage ranks fourth.
 
The senior outfielder from Alabaster, Alabama enters the conference tournament fourth in career steals for a Lion (61) and with the sixth-highest career OBP (.439). His walks this season rank sixth all-time at Southeastern, one behind his 2017 total.
 
A Preseason All-Southland selection, he was named the conference hitter of the week (March 13) after going 9-for-19 at the plate against Toledo, Tulane and New Orleans. As part of his .474 batting average, he knocked a pair of doubles and one triple. Avans drove in five, scored five runs and stole three bases during the five games.
 
Two players, Grosse and Koestler, were named to the second team.
 
Grosse has set the table at the top of the Lions' batting order for the bulk of the season, hitting .316 with a conference-leading 54 runs scored, 10 doubles, five triples, 26 RBI, 28 walks and 19 stolen bases. He led the team with 72 hits and ranks third in the Southland in stolen bases. His triples rank fifth in the Lions' single-season record book.
 
The junior second baseman from Plainfield, Illinois was named the conference hitter of the week (March 19)  after he enjoyed a 9-for-19 stretch at the plate (.474), scoring seven runs and driving in a pair. Grosse's offensive performance helped spark the Lions to an undefeated week, picking up wins over Purdue, then No. 19-ranked Mississippi State and a series sweep at conference-foe Lamar. The wins vaulted Southeastern into the national rankings during the regular season for the first time since 2010.
 
Koestler has dominated opponents this season with a mix of pitches and varying deliveries, earning a pair of big early season wins over No. 20-ranked UL Lafayette and No. 14-ranked LSU.
 
The redshirt junior from Vicksburg, Mississippi is 7-1 with a 2.88 ERA in 81.1 innings pitched. With 70 strikeouts and only 11 walks issued, he has maintained a sub-1.00 WHIP (0.95) while holding opponents to a .222 batting average. He ranks among the national leaders in strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.4) and walks per 9 innings (1.22), serving as the poster boy for Southeastern's pitching philosophy that has the entire staff ranked in the Top-10 nationally in both categories.
 
Gaconi, a third-team selection, has come on strong during the stretch run. He enters tournament week having tossed back-to-back complete games, including a two-hit shutout at conference champ Sam Houston State that earned the right-hander Southland Pitcher of the Week honors (May 7).
 
The junior from Metairie, Louisiana has a 6-1 record and 3.47 ERA, ranking second in the conference with three complete games. Gaconi has issued just 14 walks, striking out 59 batters in 72.2 innings of work. Earlier this season, he earned the win over No. 19-ranked Mississippi State with a complete-game effort.
 
Green successfully completed the transition from closer to weekend starting pitcher this season, earning an honorable mention. The senior right-hander from Baton Rouge, Louisiana is 6-5 with a 3.35 ERA in 83.1 innings pitched. Pitching to soft contact, Green has struck out 53 batters and issued just 14 walks. He ranks 10th in school history with an average of 2.13 walks per 9 innings.
 
Central Arkansas led all conference members with seven players on the All-Southland teams. New Orleans, Sam Houston State and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi each had six players honored. Northwestern State joined the Lions with five players. Central Arkansas placed an additional four players on the All-Defensive team, also the most of any school.
 
Southeastern returns to action Wednesday at 12 p.m. as the No. 2 seed in the 2018 Southland Conference Baseball Tournament, squaring off against No. 7-seeded Nicholls at Constellation Field in Sugar Land, Texas.
 
Tickets for the tournament are on sale now through the TDECU Ticket Office at Constellation Field or by phone at 281-240-4487. More information is available at www.southland.org/baseball.
 
2018 All-Southland Conference First Team

Pos.	Name	School	Cl.	Hometown
1B	David Fry	Northwestern State	Jr.	Colleyville, Texas
2B	Kyle Bergeron	UIW	So.	Bridge City, Texas
3B	Owen Magee	New Orleans	Sr.	Metaire, La.
SS	Andrew Fregia	Sam Houston State	Jr.	Liberty, Texas
C	William Hancock	Central Arkansas	Jr	Little Rock, Ark.
DH	Dalon Farkas	Abilene Christian	Jr.	Milton, Ga.
OF	Matt Heck	Houston Baptist	Sr.	Midlothian, Texas
OF	Drew Avans	Southeastern Louisiana	Sr.	Alabaster, Ala.
OF	Spencer Halloran	Houston Baptist	Sr.	Sheffield, Iowa
P	Tyler Gray	Central Arkansas	Sr.	Fort Smith, Ark.
P	Bryan Warzek	New Orleans	Jr.	Clifton Park, N.Y.
P	Matthew McCollough	Houston Baptist	Sr.	Katy, Texas
U	Jackson Owens	Texas A&M-Corpus Christi	Sr.	Corinth, Texas

 
2018 All-Southland Conference Second Team

Pos.	Name	School	Cl.	Hometown
1B	Harrison Dinicola	Texas A&M-Corpus Christi	Jr.	Kemah, Texas
2B	Cody Grosse	Southeastern Louisiana	Jr.	Plainfield, Ill.
3B	Rigo Aguilar	Central Arkansas	Sr.	El Paso, Texas
SS	Joey Morales	Nicholls	Sr.	Fort Myers, Fla.
C	Beau Bratton	New Orleans	So.	Biloxi, Miss.
DH	Jackson Owens	Texas A&M-Corpus Christi	Sr.	Corinth, Texas
OF	Hunter Strong	Central Arkansas	Jr.	Sheridan, Ark.
OF	Eddy Gonzalez	UIW	Jr.	Laredo, Texas
OF	Itchy Burts	Texas A&M-Corpus Christi	So.	League City, Texas
P	Carlisle Koestler	Southeastern Louisiana	Jr.	Vicksburg, Miss.
P	Jerry Maddox	Northwestern State	Jr.	Dayton, Texas
P	Dakota Mills	Sam Houston State	Sr.	Meadows Place, Texas
U	Cole Coker	Lamar	So.	Huffman, Texas

 
2018 All-Southland Conference Third Team

Pos.	Name	School	Cl.	Hometown
1B	Tyler Smith	Central Arkansas	Jr.	Deer Park, Texas
2B	Joe Provenzano	McNeese	Sr.	Downers Grove, Ill.
3B	Jake Georgiades	Stephen F. Austin	Jr.	College Station, Texas
SS	Tyler Depreta-Johnson	Houston Baptist	Sr.	Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.
C	Drake Osborn	Texas A&M-Corpus Christi	So.	Sandia, Texas
DH	J.P. Lagreco	Northwestern State	Jr.	Pearl River, La.
OF	Chet Niehaus	Nicholls	Sr.	Hammond, La.
OF	Hunter Hearn	Sam Houston State	Jr.	Crosby, Texas
OF	Kwan Adkins	Northwestern State	Sr.	Brusly, La.
P	Corey Gaconi	Southeastern Louisiana	Jr.	Metairie, La.
P	Ridge Heisler	Northwestern State	Jr.	Mangham, La.
P	Hayden Wesneski	Sam Houston State	So.	Cypress, Texas
U	Derek Scott	Abilene Christian	Jr.	Abilene, Texas

 
2018 Southland Conference All-Defensive Team

Pos.	Name	School	Cl.	Hometown
1B	Tyler Smith	Central Arkansas	Jr.	Deer Park, Texas
2B	Ethan Valdez	Nicholls	Jr.	San Antonio, Texas
3B	Rigo Aguilar	Central Arkansas	Sr.	El Paso, Texas
SS	Tyler Depreta-Johnson	Central Arkansas	Sr.	Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.
C	William Hancock	Central Arkansas	Jr.	Little Rock, Ark.
LF	Shane Selman	McNeese	Jr.	Lake Charles, La.
CF	Chet Niehaus	Nicholls	Sr.	Hammond, La.
RF	Nick Anderson	Texas A&M-Corpus Christi	Jr.	Sugar Land, Texas
P	Ridge Heisler	Northwestern State	Jr.	Mangham, La.

 
Honorable Mention: 1B: Blake Chisolm, New Orleans. 3B: Enrique Sanchez Jr., Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. SS: Josh Somdecerff, Central Arkansas. C: Dustin Duhon, McNeese; Kyle Knauth, Nicholls. DH: Colby Leblanc, Central Arkansas; Logan LeJeune, Lamar. OF: Clayton Harp, Sam Houston State; Matt Munoz, Abilene Christian; Ridge Rogers, UIW. P: Ryan Erickson, Lamar; John Barr, New Orleans; Josh Green, Southeastern Louisiana; Seth Ballew, Sam Houston State. U: Collin Morrill, New Orleans; Josh Campbell, Stephen F. Austin.
 
Player of the Year: David Fry, Northwestern State
Freshman of the Year: Ridge Rogers, UIW
Newcomer of the Year: Jerry Maddox, Northwestern State
Hitter of the Year: Matt Heck, Houston Baptist
Pitcher of the Year: Tyler Gray, Central Arkansas
Relief Pitcher of the Year: Dakota Mills, Sam Houston State
Clay Gould Coach of the Year: Bobby Barbier, Northwestern State