The Sports Inquirer

Release from Georgia State media relations:

Georgia State sluggers Nic Wilson and Chase Raffield were named Thursday to the Louisville Slugger All-America team announced by Collegiate Baseball newspaper.

Wilson, the senior first baseman, was named to the second team, while Raffield, the senior outfielder, earned third-team honors.

Raffield earned All-America recognition for the second straight year, following honorable mention honors from CollegeBaseballInsider.com in 2013. He is the first two-time All-American in GSU baseball history and just the third for Georgia State in any sport, joining golfer Joel Sjoholm (2007-08) and tennis star Abigail Tere-Apisah (2012 and 2014).

“Nic and Chase deserve this recognition because have both worked so hard,” GSU head coach Greg Frady said. “They were always well-prepared, they came through in clutch sitations and they led our team on and off the field. Chase and Nic are great organizational representatives because not only are they tremendous players, but are both excellent students, they were active in community service and they were great teammates. And now we look forward to what they will accomplish as Georgia State baseball alumni.

“I think we will look back on this season and say that was maybe the best tandem on No. 3-4 hitters we’ve seen come through Georgia State,” added Frady, whose program has garnered seven All-America awards over the last two seasons.

Wilson, from Decatur, Ga., ranks fourth in the nation with 18 homers and also stands among the national leaders with 20 doubles, 52 RBI and 50 run scored. He hit .322 with a .683 slugging percentage and a .423 on-base percentage.

Named National Player of the Week twice during the season, Wilson tied the GSU and Sun Belt single-game records with three homers against South Alabama. His season total is third-best in Panther annals, three behind the GSU record, while his two-year career total of 26 homers is tied for eighth in school history.

“This accolade is so well deserved for Nic because he worked to become a great hitter,” Frady said. “He was always the first one to arrive and the last one to leave. His improvement from his junior year is a testament to his never-quit attitude, and that inspired his teammates. It’s one thing to work hard, it’s another to get results. He did through hard work and results.”

Raffield, the left-handed hitter from Cochran, Ga., hit .356 with 14 home runs (seventh in NCAA) and leads the Sun Belt Conference with 59 RBI (11th in NCAA). He ranks in the top five in the Sun Belt in batting average, slugging percentage (.654), on-base percentage (.442), homers, doubles and RBI.

He finishes his career as perhaps the top all-around hitter in school history with a career batting average of .368 (second in school history) and GSU records for slugging percentage (.650), OPS (1.099) and RBI per game (1.02).

“Being Georgia State baseball’s first two-time All-American is a well-deserved honor for Chase because he has been one of the nation’s best, most consistent hitters two years in a row,” Frady said. “He was as consistent in year two as he was in year one, despite playing in two different conferences and against two different levels of pitching.”