Baseball | May 21, 2019

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – La Salle freshman Tatem Levins was named Atlantic 10 Conference Co-Rookie of the Year and senior Connor Hinchliffe was selected to the All-Academic Team as the league office announced its end-of-season baseball awards on Tuesday.
 
Levins, who was also named to the All-Rookie Team as a catcher, made an immediate impact in the heart of the lineup for La Salle in his first season. He wrote his name all over the program record book as a freshman, finishing in the top 10 in single season doubles, RBIs and home runs.
 
A two-time A-10 Rookie of the Week, Levins hit .321 and led the team with nine homers, which was good for seventh in the league. He tied for the team lead in doubles with 17, the seventh most in single season program history, and was eighth in the A-10 with a team-high .556 slugging percentage. Levins also finished the regular season sixth in the conference with 50 RBIs, becoming only the ninth player in school history to reach the milestone and joining senior Ben Faso as the second to do so this season.
 
The Langhorne, Pa., native started in 49 of the 52 games he appeared in, splitting time at catcher and designated hitter, while scoring 35 runs, throwing out 10 runners stealing and posting a .991 fielding percentage. In conference play, Levins led the team in RBI (16), doubles (13), slugging percentage (.540) and total bases (47). On April 2, he had a historic game at Lehigh, belting three home runs, which was most in the nation for a single game until the final week of the season.
 
Hinchliffe, who began his career as an outfielder, became one of the most dominant relief pitchers in school history this season. He tied MLB draftee Pat Christensen's school record for saves in a season with 13, ending the regular season ranked seventh in the nation in the category and first in the A-10. Hinchliffe also led the league in appearances with 28 this season, the second most in team history.
 
A native of Pottsville, Pa., the right-hander led La Salle in ERA, WHIP, appearances, saves and opponent batting average. He finished the year with a 2.27 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP while holding opponents to a lowly .181 batting average. The closer piled up 40 strikeouts over 35.2 innings, averaging 10.09 per nine innings. He was also named to the Golden Spikes Award watch list as well as the NCBWA Stopper of the Year watch list this season.
 
In the classroom, Hinchliffe put forth a 3.60 GPA and graduated with a degree in biology. He earned the team's Explorer Excellence Award and was a regular on the Atlantic 10 Commissioner's Honor Roll.