East Carolinian

Issue date: 5/20/09 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Travis Bartlett

ECU's Chris Heston was named Newcomer-of-the-Year, while Head Coach Billy Godwin took home the Keith LeClair Coach-of-the-Year Award that is named for the former ECU skipper who courageously battled ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) before his passing in 2006.

ECU (41-15) landed the most total All-Conference selections with seven, including a league-best five first-teamers in Ryan Wood, Stephen Batts, Kyle Roller, Seth Maness and Heston. Trent Whitehead and Brad Mincey were named second-team, while Kevin Brandt took home All-Freshman Team honors.

The nominees were chosen by a panel consisting of each head coach, each team's sports information director and a media representative from each city.

Rice third baseman Anthony Rendon became the first player in Conference USA history to be named Freshman-of-the-Year and Player-of-the-Year in the same season to headline the league's top individual awards. Southern Miss sophomore right-hander Todd McInnis was named the league's Pitcher-of-the-Year.

Heston, a transfer from Seminole College, becomes the second straight ECU pitcher to win the conference's Newcomer-of-the-Year honor, following Justin Bristow last season. In 14 appearances (13 starts), Heston has posted a 7-0 record with a 3.44 ERA. He has a league-best 84 strikeouts and 29 walks in 81 innings pitched. In conference games, he was 4-0 with 49 K's and 15 walks in 48.1 innings pitched.

Godwin guided the Pirates to their first regular season C-USA title since 2004 and a top-20 national ranking heading into this week's conference championship. At 41-15, this is the third consecutive season that ECU has won 40 or more games under his leadership. Entering this week's play, Coastal Carolina (42) is the only team in the nation that has won more games than ECU.

In his fourth season at the helm of the Pirates, Godwin has posted a record of 156-85 (.647) and will be leading the Pirates to their third consecutive NCAA regional appearance. He arrived at ECU following six successful seasons at the helm of Louisburg (NC) College, where he won five Region X regular season championships and was named NJCAA Regional Coach of the Year in 2002.

Rendon has emerged as one of the top freshmen in the nation this spring. He leads C-USA in slugging percentage (.701) and ranks second in batting average (.383). He also places second in the league lead in home runs with a Rice freshman record 17, the most by an Owl player since 1999. Rendon has a team-high 58 RBI, has scored 48 runs and walked 25 times, helping him produce a squad-best .455 on-base percentage. Eleven of Rendon's 17 home runs have come in C-USA play, where he batted .392 with 29 RBI and just nine strikeouts in 24 games.

McInnis has been the ace of the Southern Miss pitching staff this season, leading the squad in nearly every category. He owns a 7-4 record with a 2.78 ERA that ranks second in C-USA. In 71.1 innings pitched, he has struck out 62 batters, while walking just 21. In eight C-USA starts, McInnis earned four wins, while posting a 2.51 ERA with 43 K's and just 13 walks. He becomes the first Southern Miss hurler to win C-USA Pitcher-of-the-Year honors since the league's inception in 1996.

Rice had six total All-Conference picks, while Houston had four and Tulane and UAB each produced three. Seven of the league's nine teams had at least one representative on the first team. Memphis, Rice and UCF led the way with two selections apiece to the All-Freshman team, which included at least one player from eight schools.

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