IRVING, Texas – The American Athletic Conference has announced the year-end honors for the 2022 season. Cincinnati’s Griffin Merritt was selected as the Player of the Year, while Carter Spivey from East Carolina was honored as the Pitcher of the Year. Wichita State’s Brock Rodden and Memphis’ Landon Gartman were named the Newcomer Position Player of the Year and Newcomer Pitcher of the Year, respectively. East Carolina head coach Cliff Godwin was named The American’s Coach of the Year.
 
All eight American Athletic Conference programs were represented on the all-conference first team, with regular-season champion East Carolina leading with 10 all-conference selections and four first-team members.
 
Player of the Year
Griffin Merritt, R-Jr., OF, Cincinnati
Merritt leads The American with 17 home runs and is fifth in the conference with 47 runs batted in. The redshirt junior has recorded 19 multi-hit games this season. He has had two 6-game hitting streaks and had a 7-game multi-RBI streak in April. Merritt is the first Bearcat to be honored as Player of the Year since Ian Happ in 2015.
 
Pitcher of the Year
Carter Spivey, Jr., East Carolina
Spivey became the first relief pitcher to be named The American’s Pitcher of the Year. The junior has made 29 appearances and has a league-leading 2.31 ERA in 62.1 innings. Spivey is 6-0 on the season and has five saves. In conference play, Spivey was 5-0 with a 1.91 ERA. Spivey is the third Pirate in a row to be named Pitcher of the Year (Jake Agnos in 2019, Gavin Williams in 2021).
 
Newcomer Position Player of the Year
Brock Rodden, So., 2B, Wichita State
Rodden is sixth in The American with a .335 batting average, second with 16 home runs and drove in 45 runs. In league play, the sophomore led the conference with a .404 mark, along with six home runs and 18 RBI. He hit safely in 21 of 24 conference games and had a 15-game hitting streak in league play. Rodden is the first Shocker to be named Newcomer Position Player of the Year (formerly Rookie Position Player of the Year).
 
Newcomer Pitcher of the Year
Landon Gartman, Fr., Memphis
Gartman is 6-1 on the season with a 3.53 ERA and is tied for second in strikeouts with 88. The freshman is 12th in the nation in hits allowed per nine innings at 5.70 and 21st in WHIP at 0.96. He has recorded nine starts with at least six strikeouts, including his last four starts of the regular season. Gartman is the first Tiger to be named Newcomer Pitcher of the Year (formerly Rookie Pitcher of the Year).

Coach of the Year
Cliff Godwin, East Carolina
Godwin has guided the Pirates to the regular season title in the third-consecutive full season (2019, 2021, 2022). East Carolina has won 20 conference games for the third full season in a row. The Pirates have won 14-consecutive games, which is the longest current win streak in the nation, and is the second-longest win streak in conference history.
 
2022 American Athletic Conference Baseball Honors
 
Player of the Year
Griffin Merritt, R-Jr., OF, Cincinnati
 
Pitcher of the Year
Carter Spivey, Jr., East Carolina
 
Newcomer Position Player of the Year
Brock Rodden, So., 2B, Wichita State
 
Newcomer Pitcher of the Year
Landon Gartman, Fr., Memphis
 
Coach of the Year
Cliff Godwin, East Carolina
 
First-Team All-Conference
P – Connor Staine, R-So., UCF
P – Ben Vespi, So., UCF
P – Landon Gartman, Fr., Memphis*
P – Dylan Carmouche, So., Tulane
P – Cameron Bye, So., Wichita State
RP – Carter Spivey, Jr., East Carolina
C – Anthony Tulimero, R-So., Houston
1B – Ryan Hernandez, Sr., Houston
2B – Brock Rodden, So., Wichita State
SS – Zach Agnos, So., East Carolina
3B – Carmine Lane, R-So., South Florida
OF – Griffin Merritt, R-Jr., Cincinnati
OF – Lane Hoover, Jr., East Carolina
OF – Chuck Ingram, So., Wichita State
DH – Jacob Compton, So., Memphis
UTL – Ryder Giles, Jr., East Carolina
 
Second-Team All-Conference
P – Beau Keathley, Sr., Cincinnati
P – Connor Linn, So., Cincinnati
P – C.J. Mayhue, So., East Carolina
P – Garrett Saylor, Jr., East Carolina
P – Grant Siegel, Fr., Tulane
RP – Ben Sears, Jr., Houston
C – Andrew Sundean, Fr., UCF
1B – Ryan Nicholson, R-So., Cincinnati
2B – Jacob Starling, So., East Carolina
SS – Ian McMillan, R-Jr., Houston
3B – Alec Makarewicz, So., East Carolina
OF – Gephry Pena, R-Jr., UCF
OF – Paul Komistek, R-Jr., Cincinnati
OF – Bryson Worrell, Sr., East Carolina
DH – Cam Clonch, So., East Carolina
UTL – Brandon Uhse, Jr., Houston