PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Little East Conference has announced its All-Conference and year-end award winners in baseball and six UMass Dartmouth student-athletes have been recognized.
Brett Baker was named to the First Team, while
Sam Bradford and
Jordan Paradis were Second Team honorees.
Jayden Cruz,
Cooper Wixon and
Jackson Hayes were all named Third Team selections.
Baker, a senior center fielder and captain from Chelmsford, Mass., nabbed his first All-Conference honor after hitting .324 on the season. Playing 40 games for the Corsairs, he posted 46 hits in 142 at-bats. Of 46 hits, he posted a team-high 15 doubles and three triples, to go along with three home runs.
Sporting a .536 slugging percentage and a .456 on-base percentage, Baker had 39 runs scored and tied with a team-high 35 runs batted in. He ranked second on the team in stolen bases with 12 and drew the most walks on the team. In his four-year career for UMass Dartmouth, Baker batted .278 with 140 hits in 503 at-bats. He had 114 runs scored with 78 runs batted in, amassing 30 doubles, 10 triples, five home runs and 39 stolen bases in that time.
Bradford, a rookie outfielder from Yarmouth, Maine, garnered his first year-end nod after ranking second on the squad with a .340 batting average. He posted 48 hits in 141 at-bats, including 12 doubles, two triples and a team-leading six home runs. Bradford had 32 runs scored with a team-high 35 runs batted in, adding five stolen bases. Playing in 39 games, he had a .582 slugging percentage with a .976 OPS.
A junior pitcher from North Attleboro, Mass., Paradis appeared in 10 games for the Corsairs in 2026, including eight as a starter. Owning a 4-2 overall record, he had a 4.05 earned run average over 40.0 innings pitched. Paradis allowed 25 runs (18 earned) on 24 hits with a team-high 70 strikeouts. Opponents batted just .166 against him on the season. Amongst the Little East, Paradis ranks second overall in strikeouts and is tied for seventh in total wins.
Cruz, a rookie second baseman from Somerset, Mass., played in all 43 games for the Corsairs during his freshman season. Overall, he batted .288, posting 47 hits in 163 at-bats. Of his hits, seven were doubles and two were triples. He also posted 47 runs scored with 23 runs batted in. Cruz led the team and ranks third in the Little East in stolen bases with 25 in 30 attempts. A conference Rookie of the Week selection, he had a .356 slugging percentage with a .711 OPS.
Wixon, a junior shortstop and captain from Plano, Texas, led the Corsairs with a .366 batting average over 41 games played. He recorded a team-high 60 hits in 164 at-bats, including 13 doubles, a triple and a team-best six home runs. In addition to 40 runs scored, he posted 33 runs batted in and had seven stolen bases. It marks the first year-end honor for Wixon, who had a .567 slugging percentage and an OPS of .999.
Rounding out the year-end honor was Hayes, a rookie pitcher who hails from Westfield, Mass. In seven appearances this season, he boasted a 5-1 overall record in 39.0 innings pitched. With a 2.54 earned run average, Hayes allowed 14 runs (11 earned) on 26 hits. He struck out 19 batters with opponents hitting just .184 against him.
UMass Dartmouth concluded its season with a 21-22 record. The Corsairs went 11-5 in Little East play, earning the third-seed in the LEC Tournament. UMD opened with a 7-0 victory over fourth-seeded Eastern Connecticut State, before falling to second-seeded Keene State, 7-4. The squad then shouldered a tough loss to top-seeded Southern Maine before falling 4-3 to the #2 Owls in the final game to determine who would play on championship Saturday.
