Will Petersen

Position:
of
Ht./Wt.:
5-9 / 206
Class:
Junior
Hometown:
Valdosta, Ga.
Prev School:
Middle Georgia College

Outlook for 2007: Coaches welcome Will's experience back...Probable started in leftfield...Should provide punch to top of the lineup once again.

2006 (Junior): 2006 C-USA All-Tournament Team selection...Started in all 60 games...Made starts in both leftfield and rightfield...Tigers' leading run producer, accounting for 11 runs in the 2006 campaign...Led the league with 64 runs scored at the complete of the Tigers' season and finished the collegiate baseball season tied for fourth...Finished seventh in Conference USA with 137 total bases...Belted 10 in home runs and tied for the team lead with 85 hits, fourth-most in single-season history at Memphis...Second on the team with 22 doubles and third with a .336 average...Drove in 47 runs...Swiped 12 bases...Joined Cory Barton and K.K. Chalmers as part of back-to-back-to-back jacks in an 11-10 series finale win over ECU (5/20/06)...Drew just 16 walks in a team-high 287 plate appearances...Produced 17 two-out RBI...Posted 22 multi-hit and 12 multi-RBI outings... Produced a base hit in his first D-1 at-bat vs. Alabama (2/21/06)...Hit safely in 16 of his first 18 games...Had a career-high four hits vs. Nicholls State (3/3/06, 3/5/06)...Went 3-for-4 and drove in a career-best four runs in a 14-4 win over Marshall (4/8/06)...Had eight at bats in a 16-inning marathon vs. Houston (4/23/06)...Finished the year on a career-long, 12-game hit streak...Recorded a hit in his first Division I at-bat.

Middle Georgia College: Was a second team All-Region 17 selection after...2004: Helped the Warriors to an East Central District title and World Series appearance in 2004...Hit .389, stroked eight homers, knocked in 49 and swiped 23 bases as a freshman at MGC...Received First Team All-Conference accolades after leading MGC to a 49-13 record...NJCAA All-Star team member in the summer of 2004.

Prep: Was a three-year letterman in both football and baseball at Valdosta High School...Helped lead VHS to a Georgia State football title in 1998 and a Regional Championship in 2002...Hit.492 with 12 home runs and 121 stolen bases in his prep career...Swiped 108 bases in the 2001 and 2002 seasons combined...Led VHS to a Dixie Championship, en route to being named to Team Georgia, earning All-State recognition and being tabbed Region Player of the Year in 2002

Personal: Full name is Will Gilbert Petersen II...Son of Will and Joycelyn Petersen...Father, Will is a former Continental Basketball Association and NBA player, seeing time in the CBA, before retiring after a brief stint in the NBA...Was a 2002 draft pick of the Texas Rangers...Played under current Memphis assistant Jerry Zulli, who was an assistant at Middle Georgia College prior to taking the post at the U of M...Majoring in interdisciplinary studies.