The South Atlantic Conference Announces Men's and Women's Athletes of the Year
ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSAC.com) – The South Atlantic Conference Council of Athletic Directors has named Tusculum’s Placido Torres and Carley Tysinger from Catawba as the 2015-16 South Atlantic Conference Athletes of the Year, the League announced today.
Torres, from North Brunswich, N.J., closed out the 2016 season as the consensus National Pitcher of the Year. He finished the year ranked No. 1 in Division II with 162 total strikeouts and surrendered just 4.73 hits per nine innings to lead the nation. Torres struck out 12.57 hitters per nine innings to rank No. 8 in Division II and posted a WHIP of 0.73 to rank No. 2 in the country. He is the only pitcher in the League to post an ERA of less than one this season as his 0.70 ERA was good for No. 1 in the nation. Torres was tabbed the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Southeast Region Pitcher of the Week four times this season. He also picked up NCBWA National Pitcher of the Week honors on April 8 as he struck out 15 Wingate hitters in a one-hit shutout win. Torres is currently No. 1 all-time in strike outs at Tusculum with 272 in his career, while his 162 strikeouts this season is currently No. 2 on the South Atlantic Conference single season list. He was taken by the New York Mets in the eighth round of the Major League Baseball Draft.
Tysinger, a junior from Lexington, N.C., earned her second-straight South Atlantic Conference Pitcher of the Year honor after finishing the 2016 campaign ranked No. 5 in the nation with 413 total strikeouts. She also closed out the year at No. 8 in Division II with 10 shutouts. She struck out 9.7 batters per seven innings to rank No. 7 in Division II, while posting 32 wins in the circle to rank No. 5 in the country. Tysinger notched a 1.04 ERA during the 2016 campaign to rank No. 11 nationally. She earned AstroTurf SAC Pitcher of the Week honors a League-best six times this season and was named the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) National Pitcher of the Week on Feb. 24. The 2016 South Atlantic Conference Softball Championship MVP claimed second-team All-American honors by the NFCA and was the 2016 College Sports Information Directors of America Softball Academic All-American® of the Year.
Torres’ award marks Tusculum’s fifth male Athlete of the Year honor, while Tysinger picked up Catawba’s fourth overall women’s plaudit.