NOTE: As voted by the staff and coaches of the Stetson Athletics Department, these stories tied for the No. 6 spot in our countdown from 2018.

Beach Volleyball earned the first conference titles in 2018, sweeping its way through the ASUN Tournament. Their title, along with four different baseball stories, tied for No. 6 in our year-end countdown. The four baseball stories? Final rankings for the Hatters at the end of the season, Brooks Wilson winning the John Olerud Award as the top two-way player in the nation, six Hatters taken in the 2018 MLB Draft and former Hatter Jacob deGrom win 

Champions Again!

• COACH HERNANDEZ INTERVIEW
• NOBLE AND HARRIS INTERVIEW
• MATCH POINT
• POINT BEFORE MATCH POINT
• TEAM HUDDLE CELEBRATION
• PHOTO GALLERY

Rachel Noble thought she had won the match on her previous attempt, but when the referee signaled the point to the Ospreys, the Hatter junior made sure her next swing left no doubt.

Noble spiked down the championship-winning point on court 3 as Stetson defeated UNF 3-1 to capture the 2018 ASUN Beach Volleyball Championship Sunday afternoon at the Cooper Beach Courts.

The Hatters (30-8) won their second consecutive conference title and their fourth championship in the past five years.

"Every point (we got closer) fired us up," Noble said.  "Sam set me a ball that was perfect and I went for it.  To be conference champions and have that honor two years in a row, it just feels incredible."

"I am really proud of them," Stetson head coach Kristina Hernandez said. "Bec and Q had a great tournament and I think set the pace for us the whole weekend.  It was a really competitive match the whole way, and I am glad it was like that."

Stetson won the first point of the match on court 5 as Rebecca Ingram and Quinci Birker won 21-11, 21-16.  The Australian-Canadian pair won all six sets on the weekend to earn all-tournament team honors.

UNF tied the match with a 2-0 win at the 4 seed, but the Hatters took over during the second wave.

On court 2, Sunniva Helland-Hansen and Carly Perales won 21-19, 21-12 to give Stetson a 2-1 lead.  The sophomore pair went 3-0 on the weekend and earned ASUN Pair of the Tournament honors for the second year in a row.

"There are a lot of good 2 pairs in this tournament, and UNF's 2s are really strong," Hernandez said.  "I thought (Carly and Sunniva) matched up really well with them each round. You could tell they had a lot of confidence and just played really strong for us."

On court 3, Samantha Harris and Noble won 22-20 in a tight first set before finishing off a 21-17 victory in set 2.  The pair were quickly mobbed by their teammates.

"I am just really excited for this team and our program, and for Rach and Sam to be able to clinch that win for us," Hernandez said.  "It was awesome for them."

Stetson hit the 30-win mark for the first time in school history.  The Hatters also swept all 13 ASUN matches for the second year in a row.

Logan Gilbert Goes In First Round, Followed by Five More

"With the 14^th selection in the 2018 MLB Draft, the Seattle Mariners select Logan Gilbert …"
 
Whatever else MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred had to say was drowned out by an eruption of cheers in the team room at Melching Field as the Stetson Hatters celebrated the selection of one of their own in the first round of the MLB Draft.
 
Gilbert, a junior pitcher from Apopka and the two-time ASUN Pitcher of the Year, is now the highest drafted player ever from the Stetson program, besting by 12 spots the selection of Brian Snyder with the 26^th pick of the 2003 Draft by the Oakland Athletics.
 
Surrounded by his parents and teammates, the normally quiet Gilbert was speechless as he made his way around the room, passing out hugs and accepting congratulations.
 
The selection of Gilbert, and the expected selection of several more Hatters before the MLB Draft ends on Wednesday, continues what has been an amazing season for the Stetson program.
 
Gilbert, a first team All-American this year, is the 75^th player in Stetson baseball history to hear his name called on draft day going back to 1970 when former Hatters coach Pete Dunn was selected in the 36^th round by Kansas City.

The next day, Brooks Wilson was selected in the seventh round of the draft by the Atlanta Braves. Not long after that news broke, another Stetson pitcher, junior right-hander Jack Perkins, was selected by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 11^th round of the MLB Draft with the 317^thoverall selection.
 
The following day, senior LHP Ben Onyshko was selected by the Seattle Mariners in the 24^th round of the MLB Draft (718). That opened a run on Stetson players in the draft as senior catcher Austin Hale was selected in the 28^th round (844) by the Minnesota Twins and junior RHP Joey Gonzalez followed shortly after in the same round (852) to the Houston Astros.

Brooks Wilson Selected As John Olerud Award Winner

Brooks Wilson had the chance to take his game to the next level after his junior season when the Texas Rangers drafted him in the 24^th round of the 2017 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.
 
Instead, Wilson decided to take his game to another level in a different way. Passing on playing at the professional level for one more year, Wilson returned to Stetson for his senior season. But in doing so, there was a plan to make him into as effective a hitter as he had been a pitcher.
 
That plan resulted in Wilson becoming not only one of the Hatters' top hitters but also one of the top closers in college baseball. His 20 saves marks only the 25^th time in NCAA history a pitcher has recorded 20 saves in a season, and his efforts helped lead Stetson to the first Super Regional in program history. It also made Wilson a first-team All-American and a seventh-round selection in the 2018 draft by the Atlanta Braves.
 
That dedication and effort epitomize what it means to be a two-way player, and it's why Wilson is the 2018 winner of the John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award, presented by the College Baseball Foundation.
 
"Between his six victories and 20 saves, Brooks Wilson affected the outcome of almost half of Stetson's games, and that's just his impact on the mound," said George Watson, chairman of the John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award selection committee. "But beyond the statistics, when Brooks decided to come back for his senior year and committed himself to being a well-rounded player, that exemplifies the dedication we look for in a John Olerud Award winner. We are honored to have Brooks represent this award and look forward to what the future holds for him."
 
The award is named for the former Washington State University standout who achieved success both as a first baseman and left-handed pitcher during the late 1980s and who was inducted into the National College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007. The award will be presented by the College Baseball Foundation later this year.
 
"It is a huge honor to be named he 2018 John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year," Wilson said. "I want to thank the College Baseball Foundation for choosing me for this award. There are a tremendous number of college players across the country who compete as every day players and pitchers each year, with their only focus on helping their team win in any way possible.
 
"I had a lot of fun this year playing both ways, but I am most proud that I was able to help my team enjoy the best season in our program's long history."
 
A two-time captain for the Hatters, Wilson had a solid junior season to establish himself as one of the nation's leading pitchers going into 2018. But he stepped up his game as a senior and brought his team along with him.
 
He recorded just 16 at-bats as a junior but showed his offensive skills this year by hitting .299 in 53 games, racking up three home runs and 35 RBI. It was on the mound, however, where he had his biggest impact in helping lead Stetson to the ASUN championship and its first time to host an NCAA regional at Melching Field at Conrad Park.
 
Wilson finished his senior campaign with a 6-0 record and 2.08 ERA to go with the 20 saves. In 32 appearances, he struck out 69 batters and walked just 19 while giving up 40 hits in 56.1 innings. Teams hit a minuscule .193 off of Wilson.

Baseball Finishes Ranked in the Top 15

At the end of June, following the completion of the College World Series, all of the various baseball polls released their final standings for the 2018 season. Stetson finished seventh in the NCAA RPI computer ranking, and finished anywhere from 10th to 13th in the five major human polls.

Those final rankings were:

• No. 10 - Collegiate Baseball
• No. 10 - D1Baseball.com
• No. 12 - Baseball America
• No. 13 - USA Today Coaches Poll
• No. 13 - National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.

Near Unanimous Vote Gives deGrom Cy Young Award

Few were caught off guard on November 15 when former Stetson standout Jacob deGrom added 2018 Cy Young Award winner to his resume.
 
deGrom captured 29 of 30 first place votes from the members of the Baseball Writers Association of American, narrowly missing out on becoming the first unanimous winner since Clayton Kershaw in 2014.
 
The voters were obviously able to look past the historically low run support deGrom received in his 32 starts this season, resulting in a 10-9 overall record. It was the other numbers deGrom posted that jumped off the stat sheet this year.
 
deGrom posted a 1.70 ERA to lead all of Major League Baseball. That number was more than half a run per nine innings better than Aaron Nola of Philadelphia. He allowed the fewest home runs per nine innings in the National League (.415) and dominated the advanced metrics that have become so much a part of the game – leading the NL in eight of the nine major categories that stat junkies hold dear.
 
Those categories include Wins Above Replacement, Adjusted ERA+, Fielding Independent Pitching, Adjusted Pitching Runs, Adjusted Pitching Wins, Base-Our Runs Saved, Win Probability Added and Base-Out Wins Saved.
 
deGrom averaged 11.157 strikeouts per nine innings, second only to Max Scherzer, who has three Cy Young Awards to his credit and finished second this year. deGrom was also second to Scherzer in innings pitched and total strikeouts as well as in strikeout to walk ratio.
 
By capturing the Cy Young Award, deGrom joined an extremely elite fraternity of pitchers who have captured both that award and Rookie of the Year. Only six other players in the history of the game have ever done that – Don Newcombe (same year), Tom Seaver, Rick Sutcliffe, Fernando Valenzuela (same year), Dwight Gooden and Justin Verlander.
 
deGrom was named the National League Rookie of the Year following the 2014 season.
 
The 2018 Cy Young Award was the third for a former Stetson hurler in the last five years. Corey Kluber was named the American League Cy Young winner in 2014 and again in 2017, and the Cleveland Indians Ace was one of three finalists again this year, finishing third behind Blake Snell of Tampa Bay and Verlander.
 
Having two Cy Young Award winners come from the same college baseball program is also an incredibly rare feat. Stetson joins with just four other programs that have produced multiple Cy Young winners.
 
Southern California - which has a total of nine Cy Young Awards, the most of any school – leads the way, having produced a trio of winners in Randy Johnson (5), Tom Seaver (3) and Barry Zito. No other program has produced more than two players to have won the award.
 
Other schools with multiple winners are the University of Missouri (Scherzer and David Cone), Campbell University (brothers Gaylord [2] and Jim Perry) and Stanford University (Jim Longborg and Jack McDowell).
 
With three total Cy Young Awards, Stetson is tied for fourth behind USC, the University of Texas – Roger Clemens won seven on his own – and Missouri. Other schools with three Cy Young Awards are Cincinnati (all from Sandy Koufax) and Campbell.
 
The Cy Young Award was first presented in 1956 with Newcomb winning the award. For the first 11 seasons, it was a combined award, with just one winner. That changed in 1967 when both leagues began presenting a Cy Young Award winner.
 
There have been a total of 82 players who have earned Cy Young Awards - 19 of those players won multiple times, accounting for 56 of the 119 total awards. Of those winners, only 33 came out of a college program. Those 33 players account for 53 of the 119 total awards.
 
About Stetson University Athletics: Stetson University's Athletics Program has a vision of developing a culture of champions athletically, academically and within the community. This vision is accomplished through a mission of recruiting and developing student-athletes, coaches and staff, creating a culture of champions, within and outside of competition. The department operates with five core values: Championship Culture, Integrity, Excellence, Pride/Tradition and Leadership. To learn more about the Vision, Mission and Core Values for Stetson Athletics, visit GoHatters.com and click on Mission Statement under the Inside Athletics tab.