Baseball, softball rake in preseason and early season honors

With the college baseball season beginning tonight (Baylor hosts Pacific, 6:30 p.m.) and the softball season just underway, a host of honors have come down the pipe in the last couple of weeks.

As the Bears’ ace, junior Kendal Volz will start tonight’s season opener on the mound for the No. 8-ranked Bears. Projected to be a first-round pick this summer, Volz returns to Baylor after spending the summer as the closer for the USA National Team. He was named to the watch list for the Golden Spikes Award, collegiate baseball’s top honor, and joined teammate Aaron Miller on Baseball America’s preseason all-America team.

At 7-3 on the young season, Baylor softball already has a pair of wins over top-25 teams. Freshman sensation Whitney Canion has both of those wins, and for her efforts has been named Big 12 Pitcher of the Week the first two weeks of her collegiate career.

A teammate, senior Brette Reagan, was the fourth overall pick Tuesday in the National Pro Fastball Senior Draft. Reagan, a three-time All-American, is the seventh Baylor player to be drafted by the pro softball league.

Sic ’em, Baylor baseball and softball!