NEW HAVEN, Conn. (May 8, 2018) -- Felician University standout Matt Diesel on Tuesday was named the 2018 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Baseball Player of the Year, as announced by Commissioner Dan Mara. Diesel was also named to the All-CACC First Team as an outfielder, as the all-conference and major awards were announced in full. Voting for the awards was conducted by the league's 12 head coaches in the sport.

In addition to Diesel, Felician teammate Michael Gutierrez was named the CACC Rookie of the Year, while Concordia College standout Dylan Lawrence was named the Pitcher of the Year. Felician's Chris Langan was named the CACC Coach of the Year.

Diesel has had a sensational season at the plate, as he ranks among the leaders in the CACC in several offensive categories. He ranks among the top 10 in the following categories: batting average (.449), runs batted in (61), hits (83), doubles (25), triples (3rd, 7), home runs (9th, 4), total bases (1st, 134), slugging percentage (2nd, .724) and on-base percentage (3rd, .511). Diesel produced multiple hits in 25 games during the regular season.

Gutierrez has been a strong presence on the mound for the Golden Falcons during his rookie season, as he has won three games and produced a save in 15 appearances. He leads the CACC in strikeouts (86) and strikeouts per game (11.61). Gutierrez also ranks fourth in the league in innings pitched (66.2) and complete games (3). Gutierrez earned Second-Team All-CACC honors as a starting pitcher.

Lawrence was named the league's top pitcher after he posted a 6-1 record with a pair of saves during the season. He also recorded a 2.54 earned run average. Lawrence ranked among the top 10 in several pitching categories, including: complete games (1st, 5), shutouts (2nd, 1), innings pitched (3rd, 74.1) and strikeouts (4th, 69). Lawrence joined Diesel on the All-CACC First Team, as he earned a spot as a starting pitcher.

Langan was named the coach of the year after guiding the Golden Falcons to a 25-7 CACC record, which clinched the South Division Regular Season Championship and the No. 1 overall seed in this week's CACC Tournament.

The other major award handed out on Tuesday was the CACC Team Sportsmanship Award, which was given to the University of the Sciences.

2018 CACC BASEBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Matt Diesel (Felician University)

2018 CACC BASEBALL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Michael Gutierrez (Felician University)

2018 CACC BASEBALL PITCHER OF THE YEAR
Dylan Lawrence (Concordia College)

2018 CACC BASEBALL COACH OF THE YEAR
Chris Langan (Felician University)

2018 CACC BASEBALL TEAM SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD
University of the Sciences

2018 CACC BASEBALL ALL-CONFERENCE FIRST TEAM
1B Brandon Quaranta (Jefferson)
2B Max Carney (Wilmington University)
3B Bruce Strickland (Felician University)
SS Alec Craig (Chestnut Hill College)
C Joseph Davide (Concordia College)
OF Matt Diesel (Felician University)
OF Luke Kelly (Nyack College)
OF Raul Perez-Duran (Goldey-Beacom College)
P Nick Arnold (Post University)
P Sean Deely (Wilmington University)
P Dylan Lawrence (Concordia College)
P Brad Scull (Wilmington University)
RP Justin Mears (Wilmington University)
DH Rosario Missiti (Post University)
UTIL-P Brandon Abdul (Goldey-Beacom College)
UTIL-NP L.T. Struble (Felician University)

2018 CACC BASEBALL ALL-CONFERENCE SECOND TEAM
1B Kendall Small (Wilmington University)
2B Keegan Marsden (Goldey-Beacom College)
3B Justin Decker (Dominican College)
SS Christian Adorno (Wilmington University)
C Eric Gilham (Chestnut Hill College)
OF Timothy Brodhag (Jefferson)
OF Rahul Prince (Felician University)
OF Elijah Tavarez (Dominican)
P Michael Gutierrez (Felician University)
P Trevor Jump (Goldey-Beacom College)
P Jack Kelley (Nyack College)
P Zach Rumford (Wilmington University)
RP Mike Munson (Post University)
DH Brooks Ryan (Wilmington University)
UTIL-P Matt Goehrig (Post University)
UTIL-NP Frank Nigro (Wilmington University)

ABOUT THE CACC
The Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference is an NCAA Division II Conference composed of 14 institutions in Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. The member institutions are Bloomfield College, Caldwell University, Chestnut Hill College, Concordia (N.Y.) College, Dominican (N.Y.) College, Felician University, Georgian Court University, Goldey-Beacom College, Holy Family University, Jefferson (Philadelphia University + Thomas Jefferson University), Nyack College, Post University of Waterbury, University of the Sciences, and Wilmington University.