GREENSBORO, N.C. – Marty Lovrich, Southern Polytechnic State University's head baseball coach the past two seasons, was recently named the 2014 NAIA Southeast Region Coach of the Year by the American Baseball Coaches Association. Lovrich was one of nine NAIA coaches from around the country to be selected as an ABCA/Diamond Regional Coach of the Year.

This past year in Southern Polytechnic's final season of intercollegiate competition, Lovrich led his Hornets to a 46-19 overall record and trip to the NAIA World Series for just the third time in school history. Southern Poly earned an automatic bid to the NAIA national tournament by winning the Southern States Athletic Conference Tournament championship in Montgomery, Ala., and then qualified for the World Series, held in Lewiston, Idaho, after coming out on top at an opening-round site in Daytona Beach, Fla.

During SPSU's magical run to the 2014 NAIA World Series, Lovrich guided his team to nine-game winning streak in April. Southern Poly posted a 20-2 record from April 5 through May 13 and finished the season ranked No. 8 nationally in the NAIA.

Last month, Lovrich was chosen as the head coach at Auburn University of Montgomery, his alma mater. He was on the coaching staff at Auburn Montgomery for more than two decades before becoming a head coach for the first time at SPSU in the summer of 2012.