Swindle earns top baseball honors; Haar, Thacker, Kolhagen honored

R.J. Swindle is the 2003 Big South Conference Player of the Year.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - UNC Asheville’s Matt Myers and Charleston Southern’s R.J. Swindle were named Coach of the Year and Most Valuable Player by the Big South Conference Thursday afternoon.

Myers helped lead the Bulldogs to a 12-9 League record and the fourth seed in the 2003 Venture Industries Big South Baseball Championship, presented by P.U.P.S. UNC Asheville posted a 7-14 League Record in 2002. Swindle set the single season CSU strikeout record Wednesday to give him 140 for the season. The Orlando, FL sophomore also owns the CSU career strikeout record with 267, while tallying a school-record 10 wins in 2003.

Joining Swindle on the All-Conference first team is outfielder Jordan Haar. Scotty Thacker was named All Big South second team catcher, while Jeff Kolhagen represented the Bucs on the league's All-Academic team.

The MVP, Freshman of the Year, Coach of the Year and All-Conference teams are chosen by the head baseball coaches and sports information directors at each member institution. The All-Academic Team and Baseball Scholar-Athlete are chosen by the League’s sports information directors.