University of Tampa sophomore pitching ace Eric Beattie has been named the
Sunshine State Conference Male Athlete of the Year, SSC Commissioner Don Landry
announced.
Beattie played a key role in the Spartans’ 45-18 record, which included
winning the school’s ninth SSC baseball championship, and finishing as runner-up
at the NCAA Division II College World Series.
Posting a 15-3 record on the mound, the right-hander from Valrico led
Division II with 15 victories. That number tied the school record for most wins
in a season, and also tied for the SSC’s second-highest victory total in a
season. Beattie also pitched an SSC-high 134.1 innings, and ranked second in ERA
(2.55) and strikeouts (105). He walked only 23 batters on the season, and
pitched five complete games, three of them shutouts. He finished the season
ranked fourth all-time at UT in number of innings pitched in a season.
Beattie’s stellar season earned him a number of accolades, including
first-team All-America, first-team All-South Region, Sunshine State Conference
Pitcher of the Year, and first-team All-SSC. He twice was named the SSC’s Male
Athlete of the Month (February and March) and received SSC Pitcher of the Week
honors four times.
Beattie becomes the third UT athlete to receive SSC
Male Athlete of the Year honors in the 15-year history of the award. Fellow
baseball standouts Mike Valdes (1997-98) and Paul Russo (1989-90) were the
previous winners.
For more information, contact the Office of Public
Information at publicinfo@ut.edu.