Five Southern Miss players win season awards

The Sun Belt Conference announced its 2024 regular-season baseball awards on Monday and five Southern Miss players were honored.

Pitcher Billy Oldham and designated hitter Slade Wilks are both All-Sun Belt first-team selections. Shortstop Ozzie Pratt, pitcher Niko Mazza and outfielder Dalton McIntyre both were named to the All-Sun Belt second team.

Louisiana won four individual awards with the Player of the Year (Kyle DeBarge), Pitcher of the Year (LP Langevin), Freshman of the Year (Chase Morgan) and Coach of the Year (Matt Deggs). Appalachian State outfielder Banks Tolley is the Newcomer of the Year.

Oldham, a senior, is 7-2 with a 4.03 ERA. He is tied for fourth in the Sun Belt in wins (seven), third in strikeouts (85) and third in innings pitched (82.2).

Wilks, also a senior, is batting .332 with 14 home runs and 58 RBIs. He is currently on a 28-game hitting streak, tied for third-longest in school history.

McIntyre is third in the conference in batting average (.374) and tied for seventh in hits (76) with Pratt. Pratt’s .421 batting average in conference play is third-best in the Sun Belt, and he has multiple hits in 10 consecutive games. Mazza (8-3, 4.19 ERA) is first in the Sun Belt in wins (eight), second in strikeouts (87) and fifth in innings pitched (77.1).

Southern Miss (37-18, 20-10) will defend its Sun Belt Tournament championship this week in Montgomery, Alabama, beginning at 12:30 p.m. CT Wednesday. It will face the highest-seeded winner from Round 1 of Coastal Carolina, Old Dominion or South Alabama.

All-Sun Belt first team 2024

● P: Chase Morgan, Louisiana

● P: Bryce Blevins, Marshall

● P: Billy Oldham, Southern Miss

● RP: LP Langevin, Louisiana

● C: Brooks Bryan, Troy

● 1B: Trey LeFleur, Louisiana

● 2B: Blake Barthol, Coastal Carolina

● SS: Kyle DeBarge, Louisiana

● 3B: Sam Antonacci, Coastal Carolina

● OF: Banks Tolley, Appalachian State

● OF: Graham Brown, Coastal Carolina

● OF: Fenwick Trimble, James Madison

● DH: Slade Wilks, Southern Miss

● UT: Austin St. Laurent, Appalachian State

All-Sun Belt second team 2024

● P: Andrew Hermann, Louisiana

● P: Niko Mazza, Southern Miss

● P: Luke Lyon, Troy

● RP: Grant Wood, South Alabama

● C: Caden Bodine, Coastal Carolina

● 1B: Will Butcher, Troy

● 2B: Ethan Kavanagh, Troy

● SS: Ozzie Pratt, Southern Miss

● 3B: Will Mize, Georgia State

● OF: Luke Waters, Old Dominion

● OF: Dalton McIntyre, Southern Miss

● OF: Kole Myers, Troy

● DH: Kyle Mock, Troy

● UT: Josh Tate, Georgia Southern