Top Batter And Pitcher In Each Division I Conference
Liberty’s D.J. Artis ranks among the D-I leaders for on-base percentage. (Photo by Carl Kline)
We apply advanced metrics to college statistics to identify the top batter and pitcher in each Division I conference. Many of these players will be selected in the middle or late rounds of the 2017 draft. All statistics as of May 20, 2017.
Best Hitters
The top batter (min. 150 plate appearances) in each Division I conference this year as ranked by park-adjusted weighted runs created plus (wRC+).
| Conference | Player | Yr. | School |
AVG |
OBP | SLG |
wRC+ |
| American Athletic | Kevin Merrell | Jr. | South Florida | .393 | .476 | .590 | 172 |
| America East | Chris Sharpe | So. | UMass-Lowell | .338 | .432 | .677 | 180 |
| Atlantic Sun | Nick Rivera | Sr. | Fla. Gulf Coast | .305 | .439 | .579 | 173 |
| Atlantic 10 | Will Robertson | Sr. | Davidson | .349 | .407 | .675 | 194 |
| Atlantic Coast | Adam Haseley | Jr. | Virginia | .402 | .492 | .693 | 181 |
| Big 12 | Garrett McCain | Jr. | Oklahoma State | .393 | .496 | .550 | 158 |
| Big East | Rylan Bannon | Jr. | Xavier | .337 | .448 | .653 | 192 |
| Big South | D.J. Artis* | So. | Liberty | .357 | .521 | .538 | 204 |
| Big Ten | Jake Adams | Jr. | Iowa | .347 | .427 | .743 | 195 |
| Big West | Keston Hiura | Jr. | UC Irvine | .402 | .546 | .669 | 246 |
| Colonial | Logan McRae | Jr. | Col. of Charleston | .332 | .426 | .622 | 167 |
| Conference USA | Matt Wallner* | Fr. | Southern Miss. | .339 | .465 | .661 | 172 |
| Horizon | Daulton Varsho | Jr. | Milwaukee | .366 | .496 | .655 | 205 |
| Ivy | Randall Kanemaru | Jr. | Columbia | .395 | .435 | .625 | 175 |
| Metro Atlantic | Dan Shea | Sr. | Monmouth | .291 | .433 | .545 | 173 |
| Mid-American | Tanner Allison | Jr. | Western Mich. | .367 | .438 | .597 | 174 |
| Mid-Eastern | Alex Mauricio | Jr. | Norfolk State | .374 | .457 | .573 | 180 |
| Missouri Valley | Jake Burger | Jr. | Missouri State | .351 | .462 | .703 | 193 |
| Mountain West | Aaron Arruda | Jr. | Fresno State | .389 | .459 | .668 | 167 |
| Northeast | Phil Capra* | So. | Wagner | .367 | .446 | .560 | 168 |
| Ohio Valley | Nick Egli | Sr. | Belmont | .361 | .466 | .721 | 173 |
| Pacific-12 | J.J. Matijevic | Jr. | Arizona | .401 | .444 | .671 | 184 |
| Patriot | Jacen Nalesnik | Sr. | Lehigh | .321 | .397 | .606 | 160 |
| Southeastern | Brent Rooker | Jr. | Mississippi State | .408 | .516 | .878 | 236 |
| Southern | Tyler Tharp | Sr. | VMI | .347 | .439 | .673 | 160 |
| Southland | Josh Evans | Jr. | Stephen F. Austin | .401 | .444 | .672 | 185 |
| Southwestern | Bryce Brown | Jr. | Jackson State | .385 | .517 | .460 | 178 |
| Summit | Adam McGinnis | Sr. | Western Illinois | .363 | .471 | .580 | 194 |
| Sun Belt | Travis Swaggerty* | So. | South Alabama | .360 | .485 | .550 | 178 |
| West Coast | Brock Hale | So. | Brigham Young | .386 | .473 | .703 | 195 |
| Western Athletic | Tristen Carranza* | So. | New Mexico State | .327 | .432 | .690 | 169 |
* Not draft eligible. The top draft-eligible performers for these conferences are as follows:
Big South: Danny Sullivan, Gardner-Webb, Sr., 181
Conference USA: Sam Finfer, Marshall, Sr., 170
Northeast: Mickey Gasper, Bryant, Jr., 162
Sun Belt: Billy Cooke, Coastal Carolina, Jr., 167
Western Athletic: Jose Garcia, Texas-Rio Grande Valley, Sr., 164
Best Pitchers
The top pitcher (min. 50 innings) in each Division I conference this year as ranked by park-adjusted ERA minus (ERA-).
| Conference | Player | Yr. | School |
ERA | BB9 | SO9 |
ERA- |
| American Athletic | Joey Cavallaro | Jr. | South Florida | 2.08 | 2.6 | 12.5 | 49 |
| America East | Nick Gallagher | So. | Binghamton | 2.41 | 3.9 | 7.5 | 49 |
| Atlantic Sun | Logan Gilbert* | So. | Stetson | 1.75 | 2.6 | 11.2 | 40 |
| Atlantic 10 | Miller Hogan | So. | Saint Louis | 2.14 | 2.3 | 7.9 | 45 |
| Atlantic Coast | Brendan McKay | Jr. | Louisville | 2.22 | 2.9 | 12.3 | 32 |
| Big 12 | Steven Gingery* | So. | Texas Tech | 1.82 | 2.7 | 10.6 | 44 |
| Big East | Sean Mooney* | Fr. | St. John’s | 1.10 | 1.5 | 8.2 | 26 |
| Big South | Nate Pawelczyk* | So. | Winthrop | 2.32 | 3.7 | 8.0 | 47 |
| Big Ten | Brian Shaffer | Jr. | Maryland | 1.67 | 1.6 | 9.1 | 38 |
| Big West | Dave Smith | Sr. | Long Beach State | 1.77 | 1.0 | 4.6 | 45 |
| Colonial | Alex Royalty* | So. | UNC Wilmington | 3.37 | 2.4 | 9.7 | 60 |
| Conference USA | Nate Harris | Sr. | Louisiana Tech | 1.65 | 1.1 | 9.7 | 32 |
| Horizon | Ryan Weiss* | So. | Wright State | 2.02 | 1.5 | 8.2 | 41 |
| Ivy | Paul Balestrieri | Sr. | Cornell | 2.18 | 2.3 | 5.6 | 48 |
| Metro Atlantic | Chris Enns | Jr. | Quinnipiac | 2.09 | 3.1 | 6.4 | 40 |
| Mid-American | Joey Murray* | So. | Kent State | 2.12 | 3.8 | 13.1 | 43 |
| Mid-Eastern | Devin Hemmerich | Sr. | Norfolk State | 1.74 | 1.3 | 10.2 | 34 |
| Missouri Valley | Jake Fromson | Jr. | Missouri State | 2.01 | 1.72 | 10.9 | 41 |
| Mountain West | Mark Nowaczewski | Jr. | Nevada | 3.61 | 3.1 | 5.1 | 61 |
| Northeast | Danny Marsh | Sr. | Wagner | 1.50 | 4.2 | 7.8 | 26 |
| Ohio Valley | Aaron Leasher | Jr. | Morehead State | 4.22 | 3.1 | 10.1 | 47 |
| Pacific-12 | Luke Heimlich | Jr. | Oregon State | 0.76 | 1.9 | 10.1 | 20 |
| Patriot | Levi Stoudt* | Fr. | Lehigh | 2.33 | 3.2 | 6.6 | 45 |
| Southeastern | Clarke Schmidt | Jr. | South Carolina | 1.34 | 2.7 | 10.4 | 37 |
| Southern | Will Gaddis | Jr. | Furman | 1.92 | 1.4 | 7.8 | 35 |
| Southland | Heath Donica | Sr. | Sam Houston State | 1.82 | 2.1 | 8.7 | 41 |
| Southwestern | Austin Bizzle | Sr. | Alabama State | 1.80 | 2.3 | 9.4 | 30 |
| Summit | Josh McMinn | So. | Oral Roberts | 1.91 | 2.5 | 7.4 | 39 |
| Sun Belt | Andrew Crane | Jr. | Troy | 0.93 | 2.0 | 8.8 | 20 |
| West Coast | Cory Abbott | Jr. | Loyola Marymount | 1.60 | 2.3 | 11.0 | 33 |
| Western Athletic | Kyle Bradish* | So. | New Mexico State | 2.85 | 5.1 | 9.3 | 46 |
* Not draft eligible. The top draft-eligible performers for these conferences are as follows:
Atlantic Sun: Kutter Crawford, Florida Gulf Coast, Jr., 40
Big 12: Jared Janczak, Texas Christian, So., 50
Big East: Jeff Schank, Butler, Sr., 55
Big South: Zack Ridgley, Radford, Jr., 59
Colonial: Nate Borges, Northeastern, Sr., 60
Horizon: Jake Dahlberg, Illinois-Chicago, Sr., 48
Mid-American: B.J. Butler, Ball State, Sr., 51
Patriot: Connor Von Hoose, Bucknell, Jr., 46
Western Athletic: A.J. Franks, Grand Canyon, Sr., 49
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