Piedmont University Athletics

Evan Nissley - 2008 Graduate - Baseball (Bio at time of induction)
Evan Nissley was a member of the class of 2008 graduating with a degree in business.  He was a leader both on and off the field for the Green & Gold.    Nissley was an aggressive hitter, and was known to start games off with a base hit – often on the first pitch of the game.
 
Nissley accumulated impressive statistics on the baseball field while he was a four-year starter for Coach Peeples from 2005-2008.  In the NCAA era, Nissley ranks fourth all time in hits, third in runs scored and in stolen bases, while hitting in the middle of the order for three years before moving to leadoff hitter as a senior. In addition, he holds a top-five spot in the record book for career hit by pitch, stolen bases, at bats, and games played.
 
His senior season was by far his most impressive, as Nissley earned top five all-time single season marks in nine different offensive categories including at bats, runs, stolen bases, hits, total bases, and doubles. Nissley finished the year batting .337 with 64 hits and 30 RBI while stealing 31 bases.

At the end of that season his bat and outfield play earned him the 2008 Conference Tournament MVP award, as the Lions won the 2008 GSAC tournament en route to their first NCAA post season appearance.   

The 2008 season was a historic one for the program as they finished the year 34-14, posting the best winning percentage during Head Coach Jim Peeples' career at Piedmont. The Lions were ranked in the top-10 during that season and earned the program's first-ever trip to the NCAA Regionals. 

The road to the regional was a challenging one. After having a 2-1 series win over LaGrange just days before the Great South Athletic Conference tournament, the Lions dropped a contest to the Panthers on the second day of tournament action. After that loss, Piedmont had to win three straight including a pair against LaGrange on the final day in order to win the GSAC tournament title.