Baseball • 2006 Universit University of South Carolina Upstate y of ...

Thomas L. Smith Memorial Scholarship2005-06 RecipientBrett HansenThe second recipient of the Thomas L. Smith Memorial Scholarshipis Bret Hansen. Bret is a junior outfielder from Charlotte, NC,where he played for Bob Rhodes at Olympic High School. Bret enteredthe program in the fall of 2003 as a walk-on and has had asignificant impact on the program both on and off the field. Anaccounting major, Hansen presently holds a cumulative GPA above3.0. Through hard work and dedication Bret has made himself into asolid baseball player and a model for those who follow.As a freshman, Bret started 44 games and batted .253. He collectedhis first 2 collegiatebase hits against BelmontAbbey on February 3,2004. The day also includedhis first home runand his first two RBI’s. Heenjoyed 12 multi-hitgames his freshman campaign,which was highlightedby a two-hit, three-RBI performance againstCoker College.As a sophomore, Bretgot off to a quick start bygoing 6-for-11 with fourdoubles in a three gameseries against BloomfieldCollege. He had 19 multihitgames in 2005 and enjoyeda career day againstShepherd College whenhe drove in seven runs.Hansen led the 2005 squadwith 41 bases on balls andfinished second on the team with a .467 on base percentage.The Thomas L. Smith Scholarship will be awarded to a present orformer USC Upstate baseball player, currently enrolled in the University,who has made significant contributions to the program. Thememorial scholarship has been created to honor Mr. Smith, provideopportunity for others, and serve as a reminder as to the real reasonswe play baseball.Thomas L. Smith took real pleasure in watching children andyoung adults play baseball. He always felt this level of the sportrepresented the game in its most purest form, and he especiallyenjoyed watching his son and grandsons play the sport. He wasextremely proud that his grandsons, Blake and Jason, were able toplay on the collegiate level. Although he was unable to watch thembecause of his age, he always made sure to ask how they were doing.Regardless of the outcome of the game, he was always able to saythe right things to let them know how proud he was.It is with his thought, his love of watching children and youngadults play baseball, that we, the family of Thomas L. Smith, haveestablished this scholarship. It is our hope that this scholarship canassist a deserving young man in continuing to play the sport Dad soenjoyed. The Smith Family trusts that this young man and his familywill enjoy being a part of the USC Upstate baseball family as muchas we have.Rick Smith and FamilyBret continues to work hard both in the classroom and on the field.He will be a major contributor to the Spartans efforts in 2006. For hiseffort, hard work, and determination the USC Upstate Baseball Programis proud to award Bret Hansen with the Thomas L. Smith MemorialScholarship.Hansen’s Overall StatsYear AVG G-GS AB R H 2B 3B H R RBI B B SLG%2004 .253 46-44 146 23 37 4 3 2 21 29 .3632005 .339 49-48 180 48 61 12 4 2 37 41 .483Total .301 95-92 326 71 98 16 7 4 58 70 .42951