NEW ORLEANS – University of South Alabama baseball right-hander Kevin Hill was named the Sun Belt Conference Preseason Pitcher of the Year, and Cole Billingsley was voted as the Preseason Student-Athlete of the Year the league announced Tuesday.
Hill and Billingsley were also named to the preseason all-conference team, along with Danny Martinez who was honored as a designated hitter.
South Alabama was picked to finish second in the SBC by the league's coaches and received three first-place votes, while Louisiana-Lafayette was tabbed to win the conference with eight first-place votes.
Hill was named the Sun Belt Conference Pitcher of the Year last season, and received second-team All-America honors from Collegiate Baseball, and third-team All-America accolades by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and the American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings.