Baseball

2014 NCBWA PRESEASON ALL-AMERICA SECOND TEAM
2014 COLLEGIATE BASEBALL NEWSPAPER LOUISVILLE SLUGGER PRESEASON ALL-AMERICAN THIRD TEAM
2013, 2014 OVC PRESEASON PLAYER OF THE YEAR
2013 COLLEGEBASEBALLINSIDER.COM LOUISVILLE SLUGGER ALL-AMERICAN HONORABLE MENTION
2012, 2013 ALL-OVC SECOND TEAM
2013 NCBWA PRESEASON ALL-AMERICA THIRD TEAM
2013 COLLEGEBASEBALLINSIDER.COM LOUISVILLE SLUGGER PRESEASON ALL-AMERICAN HONORABLE MENTION
2011 LOUISVILLE SLUGGER FRESHMAN ALL-AMERICAN
COLLEGIATE BASEBALL NEWSPAPER LOUISVILLE SLUGGER NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
TWO-TIME OVC PLAYER OF WEEK

2013 (Junior): Stephens once again dominated for Tech, helping the team to a program-record 40 wins while starting all 57 games, including 56 at first base and one as the designated hitter… led the OVC and finished fifth nationally in RBI, raking in 71 runners and tying the second highest output in Tech single season history…  ranked second in the league and tied for 16^th nationally in home runs, blasting 15 dingers on the year to become the first Golden Eagle player to hit 10 or more long balls in three separate seasons, let alone each of his first three seasons… his 15 homers marked as the sixth best single-season performance in program history… scored a team-high 59 runs, ranking second in the OVC and tying him for the seventh most in school history… tied for fifth in the league and led the team with 77 hits, 10^th most ever by a Tech player… also drew a team-high 38 walks, good for third in the conference, to rank ninth all-time… finished second in the OVC in total bases with 141, the sixth highest total in program history, to sit just 15 shy of the all-time career record at Tech of 409… constructed the second-highest fielding percentage on the team with a mark of .994, making just three errors all season at first base… ended the season on one of his two 10-game hitting streaks for the year… played 31 consecutive games without making an error, the second-longest streak on the team… racked up 19 multi-RBI games, the best mark on the team… collected a career-high five hits and tied a season-best with four RBI while smacking home runs in the eighth and ninth innings to force extras in a walk-off in over Murray State (Apr. 28)… also crushed two long balls and drove in four runners in the series-opening victory over Eastern Illinois (Apr. 12)… earned several individual honors on the year including OVC Player of the Week (Apr. 29), NCBWA Preseason All-America Third Team, All-OVC Second Team first baseman, College Sports Madness Ohio Valley All-Conference First Team infielder, 2012-13 finalist for Tennessee Tech University Outstanding Male Athlete of the Year, and CollegeBaseballInsider.com Louisville Slugger All-American Honorable Mention.

2012 (Sophomore): Stephens led Tech in nearly every offensive statistical category and started all 53 games at first base… wrapped up the 2012 season with a .368 batting average (first on the team, fourth in OVC), a .696 slugging percentage (first on the team, second in OVC), a .476 on-base percentage (first on the team, second in OVC), 52 RBI (first on the team, fifth in OVC), 44 runs (first on the team), 18 home runs (first on the team, second in OVC), 13 doubles (second on the team), 29 walks (first on the team), and 15 hit-by-pitches (third on the team, sixth in OVC) … his 18 home runs tied him for sixth nationally while his 0.34 mark of home runs per inning gave him a ranking of fourth in all of Division I baseball… strung together three separate hitting streaks of 13,  11, and 10 games… kept a batting average of over .400 for more than two months (36 games), peaking at the .472 mark… had 25 multi-hit games, including eight resulting in more than two hits… defensively, held a .981 fielding percentage, making only eight errors out of 441 put outs… garnered many honors as a sophomore including OVC Player of the Week (Mar. 19), Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week, USA Top-60 List for the Golden Spikes Award, Semi-Finalist for the Dick Howser Trophy, All-OVC second-team first baseman, College Sports Madness Ohio Valley All-Conference First Team infielder, 2011-2012 finalist for Tennessee Tech University Outstanding Male Athlete of the Year, ABCA/Rawlings South Region Team, participant in the 2012 TB Ameritrade College Home Run Derby, and CollegeBaseballInsider.com Louisville Slugger All-American Honorable Mention.

2011 (Freshman): Stephens made 52 starts at first base and as a designated hitter… drove in a team-leading 49 RBI and tied for the team-lead in home runs with 10… hit .309 on the season, posting a .536 slugging percentage… walked 21 times and tied for the team-lead in doubles with 13… started his career at Tech recording at least one hit in his first 10 games… had 18 multi-hit game, recording three hits in five games… drove in four runs against Virginia Tech and Eastern Michigan… named to the OVC all-freshman Team and the 2011 Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American Team… during summer ball in the Coastal Plains League, named to the CPL All-Stars and also named the Rawlings Coastal Plains League All-Star MVP… participated in the Coastal Plains League Home Run Derby.

High School: Stephens earned four letters from Soddy-Daisy High School… named all-state, Best of Preps, all-district, and all-region… batted .450 with 63 RBI, 17 home runs, and 13 doubles during his senior season, helping his team to the district title.

Personal: Son of Dan and Beverly Stephens… born Dec. 13, 1991… full name is Zachary Lewis Stephens… majoring in EXPW/fitness and wellness… named to the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll two times.