Phillips Wraps Up Four-Year Division II Baseball Career at GCSU
Carson Phillips ended his four-year NCAA Division II career in style in Milledgeville, Ga., this past season.
In his second and final season with the NCAA Division II Georgia College and State University baseball team, Phillips set career highs with 67 hits and a .457 slugging percentage. He hit .358 batting average in 2026 – his best average at the plate with the Bobcats. He smacked one triple in each of his seasons in Milledgeville.
Phillips finished his four-year NCAA Division II baseball career with 166 games played, 152 starts, 585 at-bats, 202 hits, 33 doubles, five triples, five home runs and 102 RBIs. In two seasons with the Bobcats, Phillips batted .338 with 84 RBIs.
He helped the Bobcats finish 52-51 overall and 33-24 in Peach Belt Conference games in 2025 and 2026, including marks of 22-27 and 14-16 last season.
“I am all done with baseball,” Phillips said. “I have more free time now, but I am going to miss it. Especially the team aspect and being part of a great team! It was a very interesting year. We had a coaching change, and several guys hit the portal. We had seven seniors, and we all stepped up. I tried to stay consistent and smooth. We started 1-11 as a team, but we turned it around and finished a lot closer to .500 than our bad start. Me personally, I also recovered from a slow start and hit .350 or .360 down the stretch.”
Phillips set career highs in seven offensive categories and helped the Bobcats post a 30-24 record and a 19-8 mark in Peach Belt Conference contests as a junior.
After two seasons at NCAA Division II University of South Carolina-Beaufort, the Saint Simons, Ga., native set career bests with 53 games played, 53 starts, 206 at-bats, 13 doubles, three home runs and 43 RBIs. He also batted .320 for the Bobcats.
Before heading to GCSU, Phillips recorded a career-best .368 average and collected 32 hits and eight RBIs in 2023 at USCB and registered a career-high three triples and finished with 10 RBIs and 37 hits in 2024. He also batted .356 that season.
This spring, Phillips graduated with a marketing degree from GCSU and turned his sights on a sales career.
“I am starting my career in marketing and sales with a remote sales opportunity for ZonPrep,” Phillips said. “I am excited to get my foot in the door. I start July 6. Baseball did a lot to prepare me for my first job. I never had an internship in college, but I had a lot of opportunities. Companies like to hire college athletes. Athletes grow leadership and communications skills. Communication skills are huge in sales, and it translates well into the workforce. Being coachable and knowing how to manage time are important too.”
ZonPrep, based in McDonough, Ga., is “is a specialized third-party logistics (3PL) provider and one of the largest Amazon FBA prep companies in the United States. They help e-commerce sellers receive, store, label, bundle, and safely forward inventory to Amazon fulfillment centers.”
Phillips is so glad he decided to finish his baseball career at GCSU – a school a lot closer to his home in Saint Simons.
“I am so thankful for everyone I met [at GCSU],” Phillips said. “My biggest takeaway of my two years there was that it felt like playing baseball with family. I had a successful two years there. On St. Patrick’s Day [in 20126] I hit a walk-off homer, the highlight of my career that I will never forget.”
Phillips, who attended FCS and played two years of baseball in Roswell, has many positive memories as a Paladin.
“I was only at FCS for two years,” said Phillips, who graduated from Fellowship in 2022. “But it was a great experience. Coach O [Shawn Oliver] wants to win every game but also wants to develop God-fearing young men who will succeed later in life as well as on the field. That’s his goal.”
Any advice for the FCS Class of 2026 athletes headed for collegiate sports?
“I’d say be open to out in a lot of work,” Phillips said. “And stay the course even when it doesn’t look or feel comfortable. And know you’ll come around.”
(Photos courtesy of gcsubobcats.com)