AMERICUS, Ga. -- Georgia Southwestern State University senior pitcher Tucker Smith has been named to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Preseason All-America Second Team. He is the first Hurricane to receive this honor during the program's NCAA era.

Smith, named All-Southeast Region First team by the NCBWA on Monday and recently named to the Peach Belt Preseason All-Conference Team, is the reigning PBC Pitcher of the Year coming off a 2019 season where he finished with a 9-3 record, including a 5-1 conference mark, and a 2.11 earned run average with 17 starts. Smith pitched a total of 115.0 innings with six complete games to his credit. He led the PBC in starts, wins, complete games, ERA and innings pitched while finishing second in total strikeouts. Smith was named First Team All-PBC in 2019 and earned All-Region honors from the Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) and the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA). He is the GSW Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year, a PBC Presidential Honor Roll Gold Scholar and was named to the PBC All-Academic Team.

The Hurricanes open their season Saturday with a doubleheader against Barry University. First pitch of the three-game weekend series is set for 12 p.m.

Founded in 1962, the NCBWA is dedicated to the advancement of college baseball. Membership is open to writers, broadcasters and publicists of the sport.

Below is link to the entire All-America release from the NCBWA that includes stats on each player from the 2019 season, followed by a listing of the All-Southeast Region Teams.

2020 NCBWA All-America Teams  

2020 NCBWA Preseason All-Southeast Region Teams

First Team
C – John Michael Faile, North Greenville
1B – Hunter Shepherd, Catawba
2B – Daulton Martin, Tusculum
3B – Jackson Raper, Catawba
SS – Jeremy Simpson, Catawba
OF – Tyler Thompson, Carson-Newman
OF – Ethan Baucom, UNC Pembroke
OF – Jed Bryant, Wingate
DH – JT Stone, Mount Olive
UT – Joe Mason, Mount Olive
SP – Tucker Smith, Georgia Southwestern
SP – Bryan Ketchie, Catawba
SP – Sawyer Strickland, Catawba
RP – Quinton Driggers, Newberry

Second Team
C – Robert Brooks, Columbus State
1B – Noah Jones, Queens
2B – Mason Dodd, Belmont Abbey
3B – Drew Yniesta, Erskine
SS – Junior Snow, Mount Olive
OF – Cory Everett, Erskine
OF – Nick Butler, Newberry
OF – Crews Taylor, North Georgia
DH – Nate Stinson, Lincoln Memorial
UT – Dahlton Cash, Young Harris
SP – Josh Bookbinder, Newberry
SP – Steven Bower, North Georgia
SP – Reed Paris, Mount Olive
RP – Devin Dudal, Columbus State