Four Covenant baseball players collected All-USA South West Division honors, as the league unveiled its season awards on Thursday. Senior Alex Gonzalez earned first team All-West, while senior Brooks DuBose, and juniors Hunter Christian and Joseph Ridenour were second team All-West selections.
Gonzalez was also Covenant's representative on the All-Sportsmanship team.
All nominees were submitted by each institution and the awards are voted on by the baseball coach at each institution.
The divisional team voting is completed only by those coaches in the particular division. The first team all-conference and individual award voting is completed by all coaches.
Gonzalez, a senior from Ooltewah, Tenn., earns his first career All-USA South honor and All-Sportsmanship nod. The senior center fielder batted .307 and led the Scots with 10 home runs, 37 runs scored, and was second on the team with 32 RBIs to go along with a .408 on-base percentage and a .606 slugging mark. He became just the second player in program history with 10 or more homers in a season and the first since Taylor Oldham hit 14 in 2011.
His 10 homers are currently first in the USA South and 30th nationally as he helped the Scots hit a USA South-best 36 home runs. Against the USA South, Gonzalez batted .347 with a homer and nine RBIs.
Gonzalez also led the Scots with 12 multi-hit games and was second with eight multi-RBI games.
DuBose, a senior third baseman from Nashville, Tenn., also collected his first career All-USA South selection. DuBose hit .278 with eight home runs and a team-best 37 RBIs with a .367 on-base percentage and a career-high .548 slugging percentage. DuBose had 12 multi-RBI games on the year, including a six-RBI game in a win over Johnson (Feb. 19). The senior also added 10 multi-hit games.
Christian, a junior from Bostwick, Ga., earns All-West second team for the first time. The standout shortstop batted .290 with two home runs, 16 RBIs, led the team with 12 doubles, and swiped 13 stolen bases. He added 10 multi-hit games and five multi-RBI games during the season. Christian's 14 extra-base hits were a career-high for the junior, while his .470 slugging percentage was third on the team.
Ridenour, a junior from Louisville, Tenn., also earned his first All-USA South honor. The junior first baseman hit. 339 in 20 games played to go with a home run, 13 RBIs, 17 runs scored, 11 walks, and seven stolen bases. In USA South games, Ridenour led the Scots with a .385 average and a .529 on-base percentage. On the year, he had six multi-hit games and three multi-RBI contests.
Covenant finished the year 19-14 overall and 5-8 in the USA South.