Jim Phillips
Baseball
2004-05
Outfielder Jim Phillips is the first Penguin baseball player to be named The Vindicator YSU male athlete of the Year with his selection this year.
Phillips and his teammates have had a banner regular season currently leading the Horizon League with a 7-1 mark, while winning 22 of their last 27 overall contests.
He leads the Horizon League with a .393 batting average while ranking third with a career high 48 hits in his 38 games played. The only Penguin to start every game this season, he has recorded 27 RBI, 20 runs scored, nine doubles and two home runs. Of his 38 games played, he has been on base in 34 contests and earlier this season he had a 14 game hitting streak. Showing his versatility, he has started in left field, right field and at third base. He leads the team with 14 multiple hit contests.
Entering the homestretch of the season, the Penguins have 14 regular-season games remaining, along with the May 25-28 Horizon League Tournament and possibly the June 3-6 NCAA Regionals for the second consecutive year.
One of the team's captains, he is the lone active senior on the YSU roster.
Throughout his career, Phillips has shown his ability to be a team player and leader. He is a career .314 hitter while recording 173 hits, 98 runs scored, 84 RBI, 41 doubles and 11 home runs all in 178 games played.
Ranking fifth in career doubles in school history, he has shot to place in the top five in career games played, hits and at bats before the year is through.
As a junior, Phillips helped the Penguins win their first postseason conference championship in school history with an amazing run in the Horizon League Tournament. YSU beat the one, two and three seeds during the tournament clinching the championship with a 10-1 victory over Cleveland State in the title game. The win sent the Guins to the Austin Regional for games against top ranked Texas and Texas Christian.
In regional action, he was impressive hitting .714 (5 of 7) with two home runs, five RBI, two runs scored and had two doubles to be named to the all tournament team.
Phillips, who hit .287 with 45 hits and a career high 13 doubles as a junior, made his biggest impact in the field. An outfield, he started the final 16 games at third base shoring up a defense that early in the year struggled to find a groove.
As a sophomore in 2003, he batted .290 with 45 hits, a career high 31 runs scored, a career best 30 RBI and 74 total bases. YSU finished the year 27-28 overall, including a win over UW-Milwaukee in the Horizon League Tournament. It was the first postseason win by the school since 1999.
Phillips, a native of Oregon, Ohio, where he graduated from Clay High School, burst on the scene as a freshman in 2002 being named to the Horizon League's All Newcomer Team. He was third on the team with a .302 batting average and had 35 hits, 20 runs scored and seven doubles.
Excelling off the diamond as well, Phillips owns a 3.19 grade point average as an Integrated Social Studies major. Jim's parents are Mike and Sherry Phillips.
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