Galloway, N.J. – Two Stockton University baseball players were selected for all-conference honors from the
New Jersey Athletic Conference for the 2022 season. Sophomore
Sam Nieves (South Plainfield/South Plainfield) was voted to the NJAC First Team and freshman
Tucker Elder (Ewing/Ewing) was chosen NJAC Honorable Mention. Both players received all-conference recognition for the first time.
Nieves had a breakout season, batting .328 with team bests of a .992 OPS and .569 slugging percentage in 31 games overall. He led the Ospreys in doubles (11) and tied for the team lead in triples (4; tied-5th in NJAC). Nieves also finished second on the team in home runs (3) plus tied for second in on-base percentage (.423) and runs (27) to go with 38 hits, 21 RBI and nine stolen bases.
Nieves hit at a .352 clip and posted an outstanding 1.015 OPS while starting all 18 NJAC games. He rapped 25 hits and scored 16 runs, with two homers and nine RBI coming against league foes. Nieves tied for third in the conference in stolen bases (7), tied for seventh in doubles (7), tied for eighth in slugging percentage (.563) and tied for ninth in walks (12) during NJAC play.
Elder started all 30 games in which he played during his rookie season, batting .339, second on the team, and leading the Ospreys in runs (28), on-base percentage (.464) and stolen bases (17; tied-2nd in NJAC). The outfielder was second on the squad behind Nieves in OPS (.973) and slugging percentage (.509). Elder also totaled nine doubles, two triples, two home runs and 15 RBI.
In league play, Elder started all 12 games in which he played, batting .327 with 16 hits, three doubles, eight RBI, six runs and five stolen bases.
The young Stockton team with 17 players on the roster who were either freshmen or sophomores finished with 16 wins on the season. The Ospreys recorded six wins in conference play to tie for sixth place, however they missed out on the last NJAC Tournament spot due to tiebreakers.
