ROCK HILL, S.C. --- Tusculum University's Trey Hinton has been named the 2020 South Atlantic Conference Baseball Scholar Athlete of the Year announced league officials Monday.
The SAC Scholar Athlete of the Year award is presented annually to one student-athlete in each of the conference's championship sports and is selected by the league's faculty athletic representatives committee. Winners are selected based on their achievements in academics and athletics.
Hinton, a native of Knoxville, Tennessee, becomes the ninth TU baseball player to garner SAC Scholar Athlete of the Year honors. Hinton joins an impressive group which includes Shane Banks (2001), Mike Calano (2003), Josh Wolff (2005), Kevin Hammons (2007), Dustin Morrow (2008), Payden Houser (2009) and two-time winner Taylor Rakes (2012 & 2013). Tusculum's nine SAC Baseball Scholar Athletes of the Year are the most in league history.
Hinton graduated from Tusculum last month with his Bachelor's degree in sport management where he posted a 3.72 cumulative grade point average. He is a member of the SAC Commissioner's Honor Roll, Athletic Director's Honor Roll, Dean's List and Charles Oliver Gray Honors List. Last year he was also tabbed to the Division II Athletic Directors Association (D2 ADA) Honor Roll and was selected to this season's NCAA Division II Academic All-District Baseball first team as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
"Trey is the epitome of everything that you want in a student-athlete," said TU head coach Brandon Steele. "Trey is a great teammate, competitive and takes a great deal of pride in his academics. I'm extremely proud of Trey's accomplishments and is very deserving of this award."
He made 22 starts during the Pioneers abbreviated season where he finished second on the team with a .333 batting average. He was also second on the squad with 18 walks (5th in SAC / 36th in NCAA II) and went 10-of-11 in stolen bases including a school-record five thefts on the base paths in a home win over Gannon University. During his season-long seven-game hitting streak from March 1-10, he went 13-of-24 (.542) with seven RBI, four walks and only one strikeout.
During his 92-game career, he has amassed 91 career walks which are tied for seventh-most in Tusculum history. In 2019, he was the NCAA Division II National Statistical Champion averaging 1.26 walks per game.
Tusculum finished the abbreviated season with a 15-10 record, winning five of its last six outings.
