Packard garners third preseason All-America honor

ECU junior Bryant Packard has been named a First-Team Preseason All-American by D1Baseball the publication announced Monday morning.

The Greenville native has already garnered preseason All-America accolades by Collegiate Baseball and Perfect Game and was selected as the American Athletic Conference Preseason Player-of-the-Year by the leagues nine head coaches.

Packard, who became the first player in program history to earn inclusion to seven All-America teams in the same season a year ago, led the Pirates in seven offensive categories including batting average (.406), ranking sixth nationally (second in Division I). He also stood first in the American Athletic Conference in hits (89), slugging percentage (.671) and total bases (147), while ranking among the league leaders (Top 10) in on-base percentage (.462/third), home runs (14/t3rd), runs (51/sixth) and RBI (50/t8th) on his way to AAC Player-of-the-Year accolades.

The Greenville, N.C. native set the program record for consecutive games with a hit (30), breaking Stephen Batt's 11-year old mark with a single in the fifth inning at Connecticut on May 17, 2018. His streak came to an end (32 games) during the first round of the AAC Championships vs. UCF. A semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy, Packard became the 16th player in school history to win the hitting triple crown and first since John Wooten in 2012.

Packard capped his 2018 season earning a roster spot on the Collegiate National Team helping Team USA to a 12-3 record over the summer that included series wins over Chinese Taipei, Japan and Cuba. In six games, he batted .333 (6-for-18) with a double, RBI and a run scored. Prior to his stint with the national team, Packard spent the early part of the summer playing in the Cape Cod League for the Wareham Gatemen where he batted .309 (17-for-55) with three home runs, nine RBI and scored 13 runs in 17 games.

Packard's 2019 Preseason Honors

First-Team All-America (Collegiate Baseball)

First-Team All-America (D1Baseball)

First Team All-America (Perfect Game)

American Athletic Conference Player-of-the-Year (leagues head coaches)

American Athletic Conference First-Team (leagues head coaches)