ROSS, HORWITZ & SZAMSKI EARN VASID ALL-STATE HONORS

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HAMPTON, Va. – Radford baseball concluded the 2018 season with three more postseason awards as Austin Ross, Spencer Horwitz and Andrew Szamski were named to the VaSID University Division All-State Baseball Team, announced on Tuesday by the Virginia Sports Information Directors.

This marks the fourth straight season that Radford players has been named to the all-state team and the second consecutive season with three players honored.

Ross was named to the first team after his breakout campaign on the mound, while Horwitz and Szamski earned second team honors for their efforts at the plate.

A 35^th round selection by the Philadelphia Phillies, Ross was named to the All-Big South first team after finishing with a 9-4 record and 3.54 ERA. He became only the fourth Highlander to win nine-plus games in a season, leading the conference and ranking 30^th nationally in wins. Ross struck out 69 batters in 68.2 innings, surrendering only 22 walks. The Beaver, Pa., native finished with a 3.14 strikeout-to-walk ratio and struck out 9.04 batters per nine innings. Of Ross' nine wins, six came in Big South play as he held opposing bats to a .225 clip.

Horwitz earned Big South Second Team honors for the second straight season after leading the Highlanders in hits (63), RBIs (43), runs (36), walks (34), doubles (13) and home runs (7). He also finished second on the team with a .288 average. Horwitz finished with a .310 average in Big South play, while connecting for six of his seven home runs in league action. The Timonium, Md., native drove in 26 of his 43 RBIs in conference play, finishing tied for second in the conference. Horwitz led the squad with 19 multi-hit games, 18 two-out RBIs and 10 multi-RBI games.

Szamski opened the season on fire, earning Big South Player of the Week honors in his first weekend of NCAA Division I play. He started all 36 games he appeared in, missing 21 games due to a wrist injury. In those 36 games, Szamski led the team with a .336 average. He finished with 46 hits, 17 of which came as extra-base hits. Szamski was tied for fourth on the team with nine doubles and ranked second with four triples. The Glen Arm, Md., native was hitting .387 with 41 hits, 18 RBIs, eight doubles, four triples and four home runs before injury.

Radford finished tied for fourth with three representatives on the all-state squads, most among Big South Virginia institutions.

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