LAKELAND, Fla. – The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association has released its 2025 All-South Region teams with a trio of Falcons being recognized.
McGwire Turner and
Adiel Melendez were named to the First-Team while
Evan Radford was selected to the Second-Team.
McGwire Turner, who was selected to the All-GSC Second-Team, was named First-Team All-Region for second base. Turner would end the season with a .404 batting average, an OPS of 1.043 and an on base percentage of .484. He led the Gulf South Conference in batting average, hits and hits per game as he averaged 1.59.
Twice this season, Turner tied the program record for most times on base with seven against Miles and Georgia Southwestern. In the GSC Tournament, he helped the Falcons get back to the championship game. Turner had nine hits in five games including a 4-for-4 effort against West Alabama. He was named to the All-Tournament team.
Adiel Melendez, who was First-Team All-GSC, gets the nod for another First-Team as he proved to be one of the top arms Division II has to offer. Melendez threw 98.1 innings for the Falcons and struck out 102 batters, the most in the GSC. He only allowed 26 earned runs and held opponents to a .242 batting average against.
Melendez had six starts where he struck out eight or more batters and allowed one earned run or less in seven starts. He had two heroic outings in the GSC Tournament including a 6.1 inning outing against the No. 1 seed, Delta State, where he allowed two earned runs and struck out eight. On two days rest, he pitched the Falcons into the championship game as he went seven strong innings and struck out nine against West Alabama. He was named to the All-Tournament team.
Evan Radford is the final Falcon recognized to the All-Region team as he was selected to the Second-Team for utility. Radford was third in the GSC with 16 doubles, fourth with 73 hits and tied for second with 16 home runs. He finished with a .343 batting average, an OPS of 1.037, 73 hits, 56 RBI and 137 total bases.
Radford caught fire in the postseason and blasted four home runs in six games including a two-homer game against West Florida to knock out the Argonauts. He collected seven hits, five runs scored, two doubles and 12 RBI. He was named to the All-Tournament team.
