Sam Houston State designated hitter Anthony Azar has earned a postseason recognition this week by being named to the ABCA All-South Central Region Team as a first team selection.

Azar led the Bearkats in 2012 with a .354 batting average. The sophomore from The Woodlands also had a team high three home runs, 38 RBI, 10 doubles and a .402 on base percentage. He had an OPS of .899 which was also tops on the club.

Azar started 43 games this season for the Bearkats, missing nearly a month with an injury. He was named a Southland Conference first-team selection as well.

He helped lead the Kats to a record season, as they won 40 games for just the third time at the NCAA level and received the school’s first at-large selection to the NCAA Regionals as a member of the Southland Conference.

Of Azar’s three home runs this season, two were potential season changing blasts. Early in the year, Azar connected on a ball from Southland pitcher of the year Travis Ballew for a two-run homer in the seventh to give the Bearkats a 4-3 win in the opening game of the series against Texas State. The Kats went on to sweep the favorites to win the league and cruised to their first Southland regular season title since 1989.

In the Southland tournament in San Marcos, needing at least one more win to boost the team’s NCAA postseason chances, Azar delivered a bottom of the ninth, first-pitch fast ball over the left field fence for a walk-off victory over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

The ABCA South Central Region consists of players from the Southland Conference, Sunbelt Conference, Conference USA and the Southwestern Athletic Conference. By earning a first team selection, Azar is eligible for ABCA All-America honors which will be selected at the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.

FIRST TEAM (eligible for All-America)

C - Blake Johnson, UALR

1B - Alex Williams, Louisiana Tech

2B - Brock Hebert, Southeastern Louisiana

3B - Mike Martinez, FIU

SS - Hunter Dozier, Stephen F. Austin

DH - Anthony Azar, Sam Houston State

OF - Sean Bignall, UALR

OF - Preston Beck, UT Arlington

OF - Justin Guidry, Middle Tennessee

OF - Trent Miller, Middle Tennessee

SP - Matthew Reckling, Rice

SP - Daniel Minor, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi

SP - Jacob Lee, Arkansas State

RP - Stefan Lopez, Southeastern Louisiana

SECOND TEAM

C - Craig Manuel, Rice

1B - Joey Rapp, ULM

2B - Christian Stringer, Rice

3B - Danny Collins, Troy

SS - Jeremy Sy, ULM

DH - Jeremy Hill, Nicholls

OF - Kendall Logan, Jackson State

OF - Jeremy Rathjen, Rice

OF - Jabari Henry, FIU

SP - Lance Day, UT Arlington

SP - Quintavious Drains, Jackson State

SP - Chance Cleveland, UALR

SP - Travis Ballew, Texas State

RP - R.J. Alvarez, Florida Atlantic