By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information

Barbourville, KY---Sophomore outfielders Ryan Horvath and Justin Elder will continue their college careers together as the two will play at Union College next season.

Horvath hit .274 with 17 runs, 34 hits, seven doubles, one triple, 24 RBI, 15 walks and three stolen bases last year. He also had a .372 on base percentage.

His RBI total was second on the team.

As a freshman, the Madison Heights Lamphere (MI) High School native, hit .304 with 28 runs, five doubles, two triples, two home runs, 19 walks, 25 RBI and 11 stolen bases. He played in a team-high 51 games, while finishing second on the team in RBI and tying for the team lead in home runs.

Elder, meanwhile, hit .286 with 31 runs, 26 hits, one double, five RBI, 21 walks and 18 stolen bases.

His run and stolen base totals were second on the team.

As a freshman, Elder finished second on the team in batting average at .319, while adding 16 runs, three doubles, one triple, 10 walks, four RBI and 11 stolen bases. 

Elder transferred to Owens midway through his freshman year from Olney (IL) Central College. He is a graduate of Edgewood (OH) High School.

Notes

Horvath and Elder join Sean Koerber (Lourdes University), Logan Shullick (Tiffin University) and Dane Davis (IPFW) as members of the sophomore class to move on. In fact, the 2011-12 Express baseball team now has 15 players that have moved on. They join Ryan Hotmer (Saginaw Valley State University), Daniel Heatherly (Adrian College), Clayton Ruch (Wayne State University), Jeff Davis (Adrian College), Jordan Basinger (Siena Heights University), Michael Louis (University of Findlay), Chris Ward (Grand Valley State University), Andy Joseph (Northwood University, MI), Joe Sickler (University of Findlay) and Alex Juday (Jackson State University).

Union College is an NAIA school that finished 30-23 overall last year, which included a 14-10 record in the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC). They are coached by Bart Osborne.