CHARLESTON – The Big South Conference released its preseason accolades and coaches' poll on Wednesday afternoon, selecting a pair of Buccaneers to the All-Conference Team. Additionally, Charleston Southern was picked to finish in 5
th by the league's head coaches.
Chandler Tuupo was the first of the two representatives from CSU on the list after being named Second-Team All-Conference a season ago. Tuupo returns to the Buccaneers for his third year and already ranks among the school's best power hitters for single-game, season and career stats. In the 2024 season, he slashed .351/.581/.457 with his batting average second on the team (6th in Big South, 178th nationally) while his slugging (8th in Big South) and on base (3rd in Big South) percentages each led the team. Within the school single-season records, his slugging ranked at 6th and on base came in at 3
rd. He smashed 67 hits total (2nd on CSU) with 14 doubles (2nd on CSU) and 10 home runs (T1st on CSU) on the year for 111 total bases. His home run, doubles and total bases totals all rank within the top 20 in school history and had 46 RBIs to rank tied for 4th most in a single season at CSU.
Nick Timpanelli was the other honoree from the Buccaneers on the preseason All-Conference list. He moved into a starting role halfway through the year and became a consistent, reliable weekend arm for the squad. During league play he had a 4.86 ERA and 1.39 WHIP across his eight appearances and six starts totaling 33.1 innings, which was the most on the CSU pitching staff. Over his final five regular season appearances, he went for at least five innings in each. He excelled against opposing left-handed batters, holding them to a .156 average. Timpanelli had a pair of outings with six innings in May coming against Presbyterian (5/4) and Radford (5/11) with his start against the Highlanders including a career-high nine strikeouts.
This year's placement in the preseason poll is their highest in the past two decades as they were 5
th in 2005 as well. The Buccaneers are coming off a 12-12 conference finish last season where they placed 4
th in the league standings to advance to the Big South Championships. They knocked off #1 Presbyterian in their first game and went on to play a college baseball classic with #3 High Point and were eliminated by #2 USC Upstate in a close game that evening.
Charleston Southern begins their season on Friday, February 14 against Miami of Ohio at Nielsen Field @ CSU Ballpark with first pitch scheduled for 4:00 p.m. This year, the top six teams in the conference will advance to the Big South Championships, instead of just the top four as it has been for the past two years. The tournament will be held from May 21-24 in High Point, N.C. at Truist Point Stadium.
2025 BIG SOUTH BASEBALL PRESEASON POLL
- High Point (4) – 76
- USC Upstate (2) – 64
- Gardner-Webb (1) – 50
- Presbyterian – 47
- Charleston Southern – 46
- Winthrop (1) – 43
- UNC Asheville – 37
- Radford (1) – 25
- Longwood – 17
PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
OF
– Koby Kropf, R-Sr., Winthrop
OF – Konni Durschlag, Sr., High Point
OF – Lawson Knight, Sr., Gardner-Webb
OF – Nick Capozzi, R-Sr., Gardner-Webb
INF –
Chandler Tuupo, Jr., Charleston Southern
INF – Vance Sheahan, Soph., USC Upstate
INF – Brayden Simpson, Jr., High Point
INF – Hunter Keen, Sr., Radford
INF – Trey Fenderson, Jr., Presbyterian
C – Jackson Hugus, Sr., Presbyterian
DH – Jake Randolph, Jr., Presbyterian
UTL – Miggy Echazarreta, Sr., High Point
SP – Colby Guy, Jr., UNC Asheville
SP – Owen Sarna, Soph., Winthrop
SP – Drew Stanley, Sr., Radford
SP –
Nick Timpanelli, R-Jr., Charleston Southern
RP – Cooper Ellingworth, Soph., USC Upstate
RP – Sean Hollister, Sr., Presbyterian
RP – Devin Pressley, R-Jr., Gardner-Webb (tie)
RP – Braden Consaul, Jr., USC Upstate (tie)
PRESEASON PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Koby Kropf, OF, R-Sr., USC Upstate
PRESEASON PITCHER OF THE YEAR
Colby Guy, SP, Jr., UNC Asheville
