UNCP Athletics

AS A JUNIOR (2010)
Second team ABCA All-Southeast Region team honoree … First team all-Peach Belt Conference selection … Saw action in 28 games on the mound, all of which were relief appearances … Tallied a 2-1 record and a 3.00 ERA in 39.0 innings pitched with 51 strikeouts and 13 walks … Also registered a team-best 10 saves (13 save opportunities) … Averaged 1.39 innings pitched and 1.30 strikeouts per appearance … Also averaged a team-best 11.77 strikeouts per nine innings … Held opponents to a team-best .174 batting average … Held opponents to a .186 (11-for-59) batting average with runners aboard … Allowed just 13 runs across the 28 games in which he appeared and logged two or more innings of work in nine of his appearances … Struck out two or more batters in 16 of his appearances … Allowed just two hits and struck out eight through his first five innings of work on the season … Struck out five and allowed a hit and an earned run in picking up the victory with two innings of work against Pfeiffer … Grabbed his first save of the season in the following appearance after scattering two hits and one earned run over 2-2/3 innings in the second game of the series with North Georgia … Logged his second win of the season by yielding just two hits and striking out two in 2-1/3 innings from the hill at Lenoir-Rhyne … Struck out all three batters he faced in one-inning relief stints at Anderson (game two), as well as against Wingate and Belmont Abbey.

AS A REDSHIRT SOPHOMORE (2009)
Saw action in 13 games on the mound, including 10 starts … Tallied a 4-3 record and a 4.75 ERA in 60.2 innings pitched with 44 strikeouts and 18 walks … Also registered one save, as well as a combined shutout … Held opponents to a .311 batting average … Averaged 6.53 strikeouts per nine innings … Struck out four and scattered three hits in a relief appearance – his first action of the season – against Anderson … Grabbed a win in his next appearance against Millersville, striking out six across six innings of work … Tallied a win in relief against Post, striking out one in 3-2/3 hitless innings from the hill … Struck out a season-high seven batters and allowed just two earned runs in six inning of work en route to nabbing the victory at Georgia Southwestern … Struck out four and scattered six hits across seven scoreless innings from the mound in a win at Lander.

AS A SOPHOMORE (2008)
Applied for and received a medical redshirt season.

AS A FRESHMAN (2007)
Saw action in 17 games on the mound, including six starts … Tallied a 5-4 record and a 3.70 ERA in 58.1 innings pitched with 50 strikeouts and 22 walks … Also collected a combined shutout … Held opponents to a .273 batting average … Averaged 7.71 strikeouts per nine innings … After beginning his career with four-straight relief appearances, grabbed his first collegiate victory by striking out 10 and allowing just five hits and two earned runs in six innings of work at St. Andrews … Booked a win in the following appearance as well, striking out four and allowing no earned runs in a six-inning stint at Barton … Ran his win streak to three in the ensuing appearance with four innings of relief work against USC Aiken in which he scattered four hits and struck out two … Struck out three batters and allowed just two hits en route to turning in a victory with 3-1/3 innings of relief against Francis Marion … Yielded three hits and two earned runs, while also striking out three batters, across a season-best eight innings of work in a win at Augusta State.

HIGH SCHOOL
Prepped at South View High School for coach Randy Ledford … Captured first team all-Two Rivers Conference as a prep senior after turning in a 6-3 record with a county-best 1.27 ERA and 104 strikeouts … Helped lead South View to a conference title, as well as its first playoff victory in 13 years … Registered a 2.34 ERA as a junior en route to honorable mention all-conference recognition … Also lettered in marching band and basketball for the Fighting Tigers.

PERSONAL
The son of Cynthia and John Willis was born on Feb. 22, 1988 … Has an older sister, Brandi … Mother is a UNCP graduate and father is a magistrate in Cumberland County … A member of South View’s national honor society, as well as a North Carolina scholar award recipient while maintaining a 3.85 grade point average … Enrolled in pre-major studies at UNCP.

 
WILLIS CAREER HIGHS
Innings Pitched: 8.0 at Augusta State (4/22/07)
Strikeouts: 10 at St. Andrews (3/1/07)