The Atlantic 10 released their 2019 Baseball Awards on Tuesday. VCU Baseball head coach Shawn Stiffler was named the A-10 Coach of the Year and the Rams had 8 players named to all-conference teams.

Shawn Stiffler won the Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year for the first time in his coaching career. His seventh year at the helm led VCU to the A-10 Regular Season championship with a 19-5 conference record. The Rams are 39-17 overall and the #1 seed heading into the Atlantic 10 Tournament.

Three Rams were named to the A-10’s All-Conference First Team. Liam Hibbits made the first team as a sophomore and co-led the Rams in home runs with 6. Junior second baseman Paul Witt was second for VCU in hits (74) and RBIs (50). Connor Gillispie also made the team and leads the A-10 in strikeouts (108) as a junior.

On the Second Team, VCU was represented by Zac Ching, Benjamin Dum, and Brett Norwood. Ching has 71 hits, 42 RBIs, 22 doubles, and 6 home runs in his senior season. Norwood was VCU’s leading bas stealer with 24 plate thefts on the year. Dum pitched a 2.27 ERA as VCU’s relief pitcher and collected 61 strikeouts and 4 saves.

Freshmen Evan Chenier and Danny Watson made the A-10 All-Rookie Team. Chenier made 19 appearances for VCU and struck out 28 batters on the mound. Watson made 15 appearances and collected 22 strikeouts.

VCU’s 8 honorees led the A-10 with the most representatives on the awards list. The Black & Gold take the field at Houlihan Park in the A-10 Baseball Tournament on Thursday, May 23rd. First pitch is scheduled for 1:30 PM against the winner of #4 Fordham vs. #5 Richmond.

Mark Turner

Mark graduated from VCU in 2014 with a major in Criminal Justice and a minor in Psychology. He started as a fan of the Black & Gold in the stands his freshman year. Mark was known as "Kazie" for his charismatic fandom with the VCU's student organization the Rowdy Rams. While at VCU he gained experience in sports media with WVCW on a sports radio show called Rowdy Radio. Following graduation, Mark continued crafting his social media skills with the Richmond Kickers while also handling VCU coverage. He is a true fan of the Rams and vocally passionate on and off camera. After the final whistle, you can probably find him at local RVA bar or brewery enjoying a drink and conversation.