HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Southern Miss baseball players Ashley Graeter and Michael Sterling were each announced to the 2012 Conference USA All-Tournament team, which was held at Trustmark Park in Pearl.
The awards were released following the championship game which saw No. 7 seed UAB defeat No. 5 seed Memphis 5-0.
Graeter, who finished his career by leading the Golden Eagles in hitting in 2012 with a .346 batting average to go along with a team-best 15 doubles, as well as a triple, a home run and 30 runs batted in, finished tournament play with a seven-for-11 tournament for a .636 batting average.
In addition, the shortstop from Poplarville, Miss., doubled and drove home two runs in the Golden Eagles' three games and fielded all 17 chances successfully in the event. Graeter tallied second-team All-Conference USA honors following the regular season.
As for Sterling, a native of Meridian, Miss., he tallied a .667 batting average in the tourney going six-for-nine with five runs and three RBI. He added two walks and a stolen base.
Sterling, who played in rightfield during the event, collected a career-best, four-hit game against Houston.
For the season, Sterling batted .288 with four doubles, a home run and 16 RBI. He was hit a school-record 28 times during the campaign and led the squad with 11 stolen bases. He was a member of the C-USA All-Freshmen Team as well as the C-USA All-Academic Team.
The Golden Eagles finished their season at 32-24.
