COLUMBUS, Ga. --- Tusculum pitchers Taylor Rakes and John-Austin Shepard have been named to the 2013 Daktronics NCAA Division II Baseball All-Southeast Region second team announced officials Thursday.

Rakes emerged as the pitching ace of the weekend rotation for the Pioneers this year as he posted a 7-2 record in his 15 appearances, including 13 starts. His 2.82 ERA is the seventh lowest in the South Atlantic Conference, where he has pitched in 89.1 innings, allowing 23 walks and a team-best 84 strikeouts. His 2013 strikeout tally is the third-best in TC history and is currently third in the league and 10th in the nation. For his efforts, he was named to the All-SAC second team for a consecutive season.

For his career, Rakes tallied a sterling 26-7 record and is second all-time in career victories. His 285 career innings pitched are the most in school history. He is also second in career strikeouts (209), second in starts (45), fourth in complete games (9) and 10th in ERA (3.66).

Earlier this month, Rakes was named to the Capital One Academic All-District III first team for a second straight year.

The 2012 Capital One Academic All-America® first team selection is a member of the SAC Commissioner's Honor Roll, Tusculum Athletic Director's Honor Roll, Charles Oliver Gray Honors List, President's List and is a member of the Alpha Chi Honor Society. Last June, he was named the recipient of the 2012-13 South Atlantic Conference Presidents Award, the highest honored earned by a league student-athlete.

Shepard, a junior right-handed reliever from Haymarket, Va., leads the league with his TC single-season record nine saves. In his 25 relief appearances, he posted a 6-3 record with a 1.96 earned run average. The two-time All-SAC first team selection pitched in 46 innings where he has posted 58 strikeouts against 15 walks. In SAC games alone, he has a 4-1 record with seven saves and a 1.76 ERA while limiting league batters to hit just .168 against him.

Shepard was named to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association honorable mention squad in 2012.

The Daktronics All-America programs honor student-athletes in Division II athletic programs. The voting, nomination and calculations are all conducted by the school's sports information directors.

The D2SIDA All-America baseball team is sponsored by Daktronics, Inc., an acknowledged world leader in scoring, timing and programmable display systems for virtually every sport at every level of competition. The teams are voted on by the members of D2SIDA, NCAA Division II Sports Information Directors Association.

The online nomination and voting processes are powered by Sidearm Sports. Headquartered in Syracuse, N.Y., Sidearm Sports is the official provider of college athletic websites for over 600 sports organizations at all levels of competition.

- TC -

2013 Daktronics NCAA Division II Baseball All-Southeast Region
First Team
1B - Chris Dula, Catawaba
2B - Ryan Metzler, USC Aiken
3B - Jordan Edgerton, UNC Pembroke
SS - Mike Mercurio, Mount Olive
C - Jeff May, Lander
OF - Bryce Baur, USC Aiken
OF - Patrick Grady, Lander
OF - Ryan Lewis, Columbus State
DH - Bill Gerstenslager, USC Aiken
UT/Non-P - Cameron Scott, Columbus State
UT/P - Zach Loraine, Coker
SP - Ethan Carter, UNC Pembroke
SP - Nick Lomascolo, Catawba
SP - Alex Regan, Mount Olive
SP - Dylan Wolchick, Lander
RP - Taylor Grover, USC Aiken

Region Pitcher of the Year - Ethan Carter, UNC Pembroke
Region Player of the Year - Chris Dula, Catawba

Second Team
1B - Ty Barkell, USC Aiken
2B - Julio Zubillaga, Catawba
3B - Jermaine Berry, Mount Olive
SS - Daniel Bick, Georgia College
C - Geno Escalante, Mount olive
OF - J. D. Pullen, Columbus State
OF - Thomas Spitz, Wingate
OF - Adam Taylor, North Greenville
DH - Bradon Reitano, Mount Olive
UT/Non-P - Josh Miller, USC Aiken
UT/P - Martin Castro, Columbus State
SP - Derek Beasley, USC Aiken
SP - Dale Innes, UNC Pembroke
SP - Olen Little, Wingate
SP - Taylor Rakes, Tusculum
RP - John-Austin Shepard, Tusculum