Six Land on Baseball All-Conference Team; Nakao Earns Elite 18 Award

AUGUSTA, Ga. - The Peach Belt Conference released their 2025 Baseball All-Conference team and Postseason Awards and six members of the Lander baseball team were named among the conference's best players. Evan Wickeri, Grant Sherrod, and Dominic Puccetti were named to the first team while Garrett Chun, Connor Droze, and Tyler Bowen were named to the second team.

In addition, Taichi Nakao was named as the Peach Belt's Elite 18 Award winner presented by Barnes and Noble College. This award is given to the student with the highest GPA competing in the Peach Belt Conference Championship. Nakao is the first Bearcat to earn the award since Marshall Thompson in 2020.

Wickeri batted .338 in 49 games played this season, leading the conference in doubles with 19 and driving home 46 runs. The Middleburg, Fla. native is ranked as the eighth toughest batter to strikeout in Division II, only striking out once every 19.9 at bats.

Sherrod led the Peach Belt in batting average, hitting .422 in 206 at bats. He had the second highest OPS at 1.145, and was tied for the league lead in hits. The Sumner, Wash. native was named the PBC Player of the Week on March 10th and was also named the NCBWA Southeast Region Player of the Week that same week.

Puccetti led the team in wins with nine in 13 starts, tied for the most in the league. He was second in the conference in strikeouts (89), ERA (3.07), and third in opponents batting average (.221).

Chun was the toughest batter to strikeout in the league, only fanning seven times in 169 at bats. His one strikeout per 24.1 at bats is the third best mark in Division II. The graduate transfer batted .325, good for third on the team. He led the team in sacrifice flies and stole 11 bases.

With his selection this season, Connor Droze became the second player in Peach Belt history, and the first since Brad Bouras in 2001, to be named a four time All-PBC selection. The Roebuck, S.C. native led the team in home runs with 10 and drove home 40 runs. He was also third in the league in hit by pitches with 17.

Bowen struck out 43 batters in 25.1 innings pitched, a rate of over 15 strikeouts per nine innings. Opponents only batted .213 against him in his 17 appearances.

The Lander baseball team will host the opening weekend of the Peach Belt Conference tournament this weekend. The second-seeded Bearcats will open the tournament on Friday, May 2nd at 3 p.m. against seventh-seeded USC Aiken. More information about the tournament can be found here.

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Players Mentioned

#38 Tyler Bowen: RHP; 6' 0"; Senior

#30 Connor Droze: 1B/OF; 6' 1"; Senior

#4 Taichi Nakao: INF; 5' 8"; Senior

#6 Dominic Puccetti: LHP; 6' 5"; Graduate Student

#9 Evan Wickeri: INF; 6' 0"; Graduate Student

#11 Garrett Chun: OF; 5' 8"; Graduate Student

#35 Grant Sherrod: 1B/OF; 6' 4"; Redshirt Senior

Players Mentioned

#38 Tyler Bowen
: 6' 0"; Senior
: RHP

#30 Connor Droze
: 6' 1"; Senior
: 1B/OF

#4 Taichi Nakao
: 5' 8"; Senior
: INF

#6 Dominic Puccetti
: 6' 5"; Graduate Student
: LHP

#9 Evan Wickeri
: 6' 0"; Graduate Student
: INF

#11 Garrett Chun
: 5' 8"; Graduate Student
: OF

#35 Grant Sherrod
: 6' 4"; Redshirt Senior
: 1B/OF