Georgia Southern junior designated hitter Kyle Blackburn was named the Most Valuable Player at the Southern Conference baseball tournament. Blackburn has signed to play with the Staunton Braves this summer.Blackburn, who started the year in a 3-for-29 slump, went 7-for-16 (three homers, triple, two doubles) with six RBI in the tournament.
In the tournament opener, a 4-3 win over Davidson, Blackburn was 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles and one RBI. The Eagles then defeated Appalachian State, 6-5, with Blackburn going 3-for-4 with a triple, homer and two RBIs.
After going 0-for-5 in a 16-4 victory over Furman, Blackburn was 2-for-3 in the 7-3 victory over Elon in the title game. Blackburn belted a three-run homer in the sixth to break a scoreless tie.
“I feel great. I got off to a slow start at the beginning (of the year), but tried to stay positive and got hot toward the end of the season and tried to help the team out. It’s awesome,” said the junior designated hitter. “No one on this team has experienced this before, and it’s been a while since Georgia Southern has won one, so it feels amazing to come up here and win the tournament.”
Georgia Southern advances to the NCAA tournament and will play out West in the Cal State-Fullerton regional. Georgia Southern in the No. 2 seed and will play No. 3 seed Gonzaga in the opener. Cal State-Fullerton, the top seed, meets Utah in the other first round contest.
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