SoCon player of the year Tice sizzling at right time

Before the season started, College of Charleston third baseman Jeremie Tice didn't bother writing down any personal goals.

"I just wanted to have a good year," Tice said.

Mission accomplished. And then some.

Provided

Charleston third baseman Jeremie Tice is hitting a blistering .410 with 22 homers and 79 RBIs heading into this week's Southern Conference Tournament.

On Monday, Tice was honored as National Player of the Week by Collegiate Baseball Magazine as well as Southern Conference Player of the Week and Southern Conference Player of the Year by the league's coaches.

A transfer from Tallahassee (Fla.) Community College in his first season with the Cougars, Tice is hitting .410 with 22 home runs and 79 RBIs heading into the Southern Conference Tournament, where the third-seeded Cougars play at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Joe Riley Park against the winner of today's play-in game between Western Carolina and Davidson.

Joining Tice on the Coaches All-SoCon first team are Cougars' first baseman Michael Harrington and second baseman Brandon Sizemore. Charleston outfielder Gabe Marchant earned second team honors.

"I tell you what, what an outstanding year Tice has had," said Charleston coach John Pawlowski. "He has come in and done a tremendous job. You can't say enough about what he has done on the field."

Tice has absolutely blistered Southern Conference pitching. In 27 league games, The junior is hitting .491.

Heading into an April 4 series against Appalachian State, Tice was hitting a more-than-respectable .346, but since then he has raised his average 74 points.

"One of the biggest things is he has learned an approach at the plate," Pawlowski said. "He's a big, strong physical kid. People were throwing him a lot of sliders and breaking balls early and he was chasing them. Now he's laying off those pitches. He's got a really good discipline at the plate. You can work in the cage all you want, but you've got to get out there and step in the batter's box and develop an approach. Then you'll be a good hitter."

Tice says he has just kept working at the little things all season.

"I just try to pay attention to small details, try to stay with it, and working with coach (Matt) Heath and coach (Chris) Morris," Tice said. "Just trying to get better. Each series, a different scouting report comes out on you so you constantly have to get better."

And Tice indeed seems to get better each week, none better than his last. In four games last week — one at Clemson and three at Western Carolina — Tice hit .524 with seven homers and 15 RBIs.

"What a weekend he had up at Western," Pawlowski said. "He just got a chance to get a lot of pitches to hit and squared a lot of balls up. He has come a long, long way. You don't see weekends like he had very often. I hope he can do the same this week."

Reach Charles Bennett at cbennett@postandcourier.com.