KENNESAW, Ga. – Conference USA announced Tuesday the 2026 Baseball Superlative Awards along with the league’s all-conference and all-freshman teams. Liberty’s Tanner Marsh was crowned CUSA Player and Defensive Player of the Year. Flame right-hander Ben Blair struck out 102 batters in 81.1 innings which tied for the league-lead on his way to being named CUSA Pitcher of the Year. It’s the second consecutive season that two players from the same team claimed Player and Pitcher of the Year honors.
LA Tech right-hander Declan Dahl was named the CUSA Newcomer of the Year, while Jax State leadoff man Jaxon Pate won Freshman of the Year honors. Jax State’s Steve Bieser and Ryan Kramer were named the Keith LeClair Coach of the Year and Assistant Coach of the Year, respectively.
Jax State had the most first-team All-Conference selections with four, while DBU and Liberty boasted three a piece. 10 of the league’s teams had at least one representative on an all-conference team. Kennesaw State garnered three members on the all-freshman squad.
Marsh has started every game at shortstop for the Flames since joining the Liberty roster in 2024. The junior ranks first in CUSA in runs scored (64) and hits (79), second in assists (133) and triples (5) and fifth in batting average (.341). He has committed seven errors in 201 chances. Marsh has a 11.14 in defensive runs saved (DRS) which is second in CUSA and ninth among all shortstops in the nation. Marsh’s win above replacement also ranks first in CUSA with 3.47.
Blair made 14 starts with a 6-5 record on the mound in the weekend rotation for the Flames while posting a 3.87 ERA. The junior right-hander ranks top five in the league in innings pitched (81.1), strike outs (102) and walks allowed (12). Nationally, Blair ranks fifth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (8.50), 12th in walks allowed per nine innings (1.33) and 14th in WHIP (1.00). He is only the second player in Liberty history to be one of 45 of the nation’s top amateur baseball players named to the midseason watch list for the Golden Spikes Award by USA Baseball.
Dahl, a junior right-hand pitcher, boasts a 7-4 overall mark. He ranks third in CUSA with 78.2 innings and 96 strikeouts. The Azle, Texas, native ranks seventh in ERA (3.20) and held opponents to a .232 average for the ninth-best in the league. Dahl saw 10 starts with at least five innings pitched and six strikeouts. He punched out a career-high 13 strikeouts across 5.2 innings pitches against Kennesaw State on April 17.
Pate has been a large part of Jax State’s success this season, leading off the team as a redshirt freshman. Since taking over the leadoff spot, Pate has hit at a .376 clip, with 53 hits and 10 extra base hits (nine doubles and one homer). He is patient at the plate with 38 free bases, a team-high 32 walks and six HBP. The Calhoun, Ga., native ranks fifth in the league in batting average at .360 and has the second-highest on-base percentage at .469, which also leads the team. The redshirt freshman has the most hits on the Gamecocks squad with 62.
Bieser was named the Keith LeClair Coach of the Year after turning Jax State into one of the nation’s best teams, earning weekly rankings from several key publications, including Baseball America, the NCBWA, and the Coaches Poll and has guided Jax State to 40 wins for the first time since 1995. Bieser has the Gamecocks playing a very selfless brand of ball, ranking within the top-five in sacrifice bunts in Division I with 61. The Gamecocks have won eight of the 10 conference series they have played in this season and have outscored teams 394 to 288 so far this year. The Gamecocks clinched their first conference championship since 2019.
Kramer has had a huge impact on the Gamecocks pitching staff, leading Jax State to a team ERA of 3.68, which ranks in the top-10 nationally. The pitching staff has accumulated 555 strikeouts and has only surrendered 229 walks for a K/BB ratio of 2.42:1. The Gamecocks are also a top-five squad in shutouts with six and are top-15 in K/9 at 10.5. Jax State ranks third in the nation in hits allowed per nine innings 7.10.
Player and Defensive Player of the Year
Tanner Marsh, Liberty
Pitcher of the Year
Ben Blair, Liberty
Newcomer of the Year
Declan Dahl, LA Tech
Freshman of the Year
Jaxon Pate, Jax State
Keith LeClair Coach of the Year
Steve Bieser, Jax State
Assistant Coach of the Year
Ryan Kramer, Jax State
First Team All-CUSA
C: Grayson Ashe, Jax State
INF: Chayton Krauss, DBU
INF: Tanner Marsh, Liberty
INF: Logan Fyffe, Missouri State
INF: Lane Arroyos, WKU
OF: Jake Bennett, DBU
OF: Jaxon Pate, Jax State
OF: Nick Barone, Liberty
DH: Luke Pettitte, DBU
SP: Eli Pillsbury, Jax State
SP: Ben Blair, Liberty
SP: Declan Dahl, LA Tech
SP: Ryan Peterson, Sam Houston
RP: Skyler Hutto, Jax State
RP: Daniel Powell, Kennesaw State
UT: Curry Sutherland, Missouri State
Second Team All-CUSA
C: Tyler Minnick, MTSU
INF: Evan Bouldin, Delaware
INF: Caleb Johnson, Jax State
INF: Trey King, Jax State
INF: Trey Hawsey, LA Tech
OF: Dylan Schlaegel, DBU
OF: Owen Nowak, MTSU
OF: Jonatan Clough, NM State
DH: Layne Akers, MTSU
SP: Liam Watt, DBU
SP: Beau Bryans, Jax State
SP: Steven Cash, Jax State
SP: Bradley Zayac, Liberty
RP: Maddox McDougall, Jax State
RP: Cooper Harrington, Liberty
UT: Cooper Williams, Kennesaw State
All-Freshman Team
Anthony DeCeasare, Delaware
*Jaxon Pate, Jax State
Josh Gibbs, Kennesaw State
Grayson McCollum, Kennesaw State
Jayden Summerville, Kennesaw State
Thomas Allen, LA Tech
Casey McCoy, LA Tech
Layne Akers, MTSU
Ross Felder, Missouri State
Wes Baker, Sam Houston
Cade Corcoran, Sam Houston
*Freshman of the Year