The University of Mary Washington baseball team had 10 members earn Coast-to-Coast Conference honors on Wednesday morning the conference announced.
Pitcher
Brendan McComber, head coach
Kelly Swiney, and infielder
Burke Steifman all earned major awards from the conference, while McComber, pitcher
Justin Ritz, two-way
Connor Hassan, first baseman
Noah Roots, designated hitter
Ty Lowe, outfielder
Bobby Ayscue, pitcher
Matthew Boyd, and catcher
Oliver Martin all placed on the All-Coast-to-Coast Conference Team.
McComber was named the C2C Pitcher of the Year and was placed on the First Team after polishing off the best regular season in recent memory for an Eagle arm. McComber ranks 13th in the nation in ERA with a team-best 1.64 mark, which would rank third-best in a single season in UMW history. McComber struck out 50 batters in 49.1 innings, making five starts in 12 total appearances.
Swiney, meanwhile, was named the C2C Coach of the Year after guiding the Eagles to a 25-12 overall record and a 3-1 mark in conference play -- the Eagles' best mark by win percentage (.750) since 2015. Too, he had nine players named to the All-C2C Team this spring and guided the pitching staff to the 10th-best ERA mark in the nation once the regular season concluded.
Steifman earned Scholar of the Year honors as he finishes up his degree in Finance and Sports Management this spring. Steifman hit .282 in 18 games for UMW this spring, scoring five times against Hampden-Sydney last month -- tying a program record.
Ritz was named to the All-C2C First Team after finishing the regular season with a 1.84 ERA, raking 22nd in the country and what-would-be fourth all time in program history. Ritz appeared in 11 games -- making 10 starts -- and struck out 44 batters in 49 innings, going 6-3 this past spring.
Hassan was named to the First Team as well as a pitcher. Hassan spent the season as UMW's closer once again, breaking the saves all-time program record (11)Â and tying the single season saves record (6) earlier this season and totaled a 3.14 ERA in 14 innings, striking out 24 batters.
Lowe (designated hitter) and Ayscue (outfield) were the last two players named to the C2C First Team for UMW. Lowe, who broke the all-time program RBI record last season, became the program's all-time hits leader last month. For the season, Lowe hit .333 with three home runs, while driving in a team-leading 33 runs. On the mound, Lowe tossed 33 innings in seven appearances, totaling a 3.55 ERA with 28 strikeouts.
Ayscue, meanwhile, bounced back from a slower 2024 to return to his all-conference form after hitting .326 in 37 games, while play an All-American level center field. Ayscue doubled seven times, tripled three times and drove four balls out of the ballpark, while driving in 32 runs.
Roots was named an Honorable Mention after hitting .312 with four homers and drove in 26 runs for the Eagles this spring.
Oliver Martin was the next Eagles to be named to the Honorable Mention team after hitting .300 in 35 games. And finally, Boyd was also named to the Honorable Mention squad after tossing five one-hit innings against Christopher Newport before turning around and tossing six innings of three-run ball against Salisbury this past Saturday.
The Eagles are back in action on Thursday for the Coast-to-Coast Conference semifinal game against Christopher Newport at 11 a.m. in Salisbury, Md. The winners plays No. 9 Salisbury at 2:30 for the C2C Championship.