UE’S CARROLL NAMED ABCA/ATEC MIDWEST REGIONAL COACH OF THE YEAR

EVANSVILLE, Ind. –  University of Evansville head baseball coach Wes Carroll was named on Tuesday as the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/ATEC Midwest Regional Coach of the Year in a vote of the ABCA’s All-America and Coach of the Year Committee.  Carroll is one of eight baseball coaches nationwide to earn Regional Coach of the Year honors at the Division I level, and it marks the first time in which an UE head coach has earned the honor.

“It’s an honor to be recognized by the ABCA and earn this award,” said Carroll.  “I would like to thank our coaching staff, athletic training staff, and our strength coach.  They were so instrumental in our success this season.

“But, most importantly, I want to thank the players!  They bought into something bigger than themselves, and represented our University well this season.”

Carroll was named the ABCA/ATEC Midwest Regional Coach of the Year after helping Evansville advance to its first-ever NCAA Tournament Super Regional, where the Purple Aces fell, 2-1, to eventual national champion and #1 overall seed, Tennessee, in the best-of-three game Super Regional series.  Evansville was one of just two teams in the NCAA Tournament to knock off the Volunteers, as UE posted a 10-8 victory in game two of the series to force the deciding game three.

Evansville advanced to the Knoxville Super Regional by winning the Greenville (N.C.) Regional Tournament as the regional’s No. 4 seed, after UE advanced to the NCAA Tournament by sweeping through the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament to earn the league’s automatic bid.

Evansville finished the regular season 39-26 overall.  The Purple Aces finished the season nationally ranked in various collegiate baseball polls, including ranking 15th in the NCBWA Top 25 and 23rd in both the Baseball America Top 25 and the USA Today Top 25 Coaches’ Poll.

Northeast:          Mike Glavine (Northeastern)

   East:                   Randy Mazey (West Virginia)

    Atlantic:               Scott Forbes (North Carolina)

 Southeast:             Tony Vitello (Tennessee)

            South:                  Lane Burroughs (Louisiana Tech)

               Central::              Skip Johnson (Oklahom

             West            Andrew Checketts (UC Santa Barbara)