CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Charleston Southern baseball team captured the Big South Team Sportsmanship Award for the 2012 season, it was announced by the league office Wednesday. Recognition was given in each of the conference’s eight spring sports, with Liberty leading the way with three wins in men’s golf, and men’s and women’s track and field.
The honors are part of the Big South's Sportsmanship Awards program that began in 2005-06. The team awards are voted on by Big South student-athletes and are awarded at the end of each competitive season. Teams cannot vote for themselves. Each institution ranks and votes for its top three, with teams receive three points for a first-place ranking, two points for a second-place ranking and one point for a third-place ranking.
CSU also took home a sportsmanship award in the fall, when the volleyball team was voted the winner.
“This is a tremendous honor for our program,” said CSU Head Baseball Coach Stuart Lake. “This award means so much because it is voted on by our fellow members of the league. I am very proud of our players, coaches and trainers for representing Charleston Southern University and its mission so well.”
The Bucs finished the 2012 season at 20-36 overall, but progressed in the middle and later part of the campaign to finish 11-13 in Big South Conference play. Youth was a theme for Lake’s squad, as center fielder Bobby Ison and corner outfielder Chase Shelton both played their way onto the Big South All-Conference Second Team as freshmen. First baseman Robbie Street also provided a glimpse of the powerful lineup CSU possesses for the future, finishing his first collegiate season with a .342 batting average, two home runs, 11 doubles, 13 RBI and a .491 slugging percentage.
The victory marks CSU’s first Team Sportsmanship Award in baseball.