Senior Dalton Shuffield's stellar regular season while helping lead Texas State to a regular season title and record-breaking season resulted in him being named the Sun Belt Conference's Player of the Year, the league announced.
He was one of seven Bobcats named to one of the two all-conference teams, the most in team history, and Steven Trout was chosen as the Ron Maestri Coach of the Year.
Five Bobcats made the first team, the most ever in program history, with honorees being Tristan Stivors, Justin Thompson, Levi Wells, Zeke Wood and Shuffield. Named to the second team were Jose Gonzalez and John Wuthrich.
Shuffield is the first Bobcat to earn a conference's Player of the Year since Paul Goldschmidt in 2009. The senior shortstop led the Sun Belt in batting average (.393), runs scored (74), hits (84), doubles, (20), triples (5). He also was in the top 10 of home runs (12), on-base percentage (.455), slugging percentage (.701), stolen bases (16) and total bases (150).
During the season, Shuffield set the TXST career records for doubles (53), triples (12) and extra-base hits (84). He is a four-time Sun Belt Player of the Week honoree including three times in a four-week span.
Trout earned his first Ron Maestri Coach of the Year honor after leading TXST to a 44-11 record, 26-4 conference mark, the second Sun Belt regular season championship and its first-ever consensus national ranking that has reached 11 consecutive weeks. The overall and Sun Belt win totals are the most in program history.
Entering the conference tournament, the Bobcats have recorded a 24-game turnaround from 2021. Highlight of the season has been Texas State winning a series on the road against No. 11 Arizona, claiming a win at No. 1 Texas and posting a 15-0 mark in conference road games. Trout joins former head coaches Howard Bushong (1996) and Ty Harrington (2009, 2011, 2019) in earning conference coach of the year accolade.
Thompson played and started all 55 games at third base. He is batting .335 with 70 hits of which 11 have been doubles and nine are homers. The senior has scored 50 runs and driven in 40 while drawing 38 walks, the second most in the league, to post a .439 OBP. He is also 10-for-14 stealing bases.
Stivors has been the most dominant closers not only in the Sun Belt but the nation this year. The right-hander has recorded 17 saves to lead the country. He has struck out 68 in 49 innings while also going 6-1 and posting a 2.57 ERA. In his 29 appearances, Stivors has recorded multiple strikeouts in 20 of them. He has limited opponents to a .206 average with just 10 extra-base hits.
As the team's Friday night starter, Wood is 6-1 with a 4-0 mark in conference play. He has posted a 3.55 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, struck out 85, the second most in the Sun Belt, and held opponents to a .180 batting average. Four times this season the right-hander has recorded double-digit strikeouts with a career-high 12 coming in the season opener against Utah Valley and matching it against Georgia Southern. Wood has recorded five quality starts in which the Bobcats won each contest.
Wells completed the regular season with a 7-1 record and a 5-1 mark against Sun Belt foes. The Texas Tech transfer has a 2.88 ERA in a team-high 78 innings to go along with 72 strikeouts, the sixth highest total in the league. He threw a complete game at Appalachian State on 96 pitches on his way to earning the first of his two weekly Pitcher of the Week honors. His second came after striking out a career-high 10 in six scoreless innings at ULM.
Gonzalez ended the season on a tear with a .370 average, all 10 of his homers, six doubles, 23 runs and 41 RBI since April 1. For the year, he hit .307 with 58 hits and 13 doubles while scoring 39 runs and leading the Bobcats with 56 RBI. The junior also swiped nine bases and hit six sacrifice flies.
Wuthrich has hit a team leading 14 home runs. His total is the seventh most in the conference and is tied for the 10th most in a season by a Bobcat. He ended the regular season batting .281 with 62 base knocks. The senior totaled 48 runs scored and plated 44. In the field, Wuthrich recorded five outfield assists from right field.
The Bobcats will play their first game in the Sun Belt Tournament on Wednesday at Riverwalk Stadium in Montgomery, Alabama. First pitch is scheduled at 7:30 p.m. and all games of the championship will be streamed on ESPN+.
