The Jackson State Tigers currently sit atop the SWAC baseball standings with an 11-4 record, largely thanks to new transfer Joseph Eichelberger. Coming from Paul D. Camp Community College, Eichelberger has cemented himself as one of the best hitters in all of college baseball in just 15 games.

So far, he’s posted a ridiculously high batting average of .511 in 13 games played. He has 24 hits, 22 RBIs, eight stolen bases, and a home run. While his numbers at Jackson State are high, they’re hardly an aberration.

Last season at Paul D. Camp, Eichelberger had a .405 batting average, 75 hits, 62 RBIs, 31 stolen bases, and 17 home runs. His play at the junior college earned him 30 transfer offers over the offseason. Out of all of them, he settled on Jackson State.

“I had 30-something schools to choose from,” he told Garrett Busby of WLBT3. “And of courge, I had to choose which [school] because I had a time limit. I prayed and talked to my parents, and God ended up leading me here out of all 30 schools.”

Despite his stellar performance now, Eichelberger was originally hesitant to come back to the SWAC. Before Paul D. Camp, he played at Arkansas-Pine Bluff but didn’t have a positive experience.

“I’m gonna be honest, I really didn’t want to go back to the SWAC because of the experience I had in the past with UAPB,” he said. “But Coach [Omar] Johnson made me feel comfortable when I got [to Jackson]. He made sure that he was going to get me right. So, I feel like this is the best decision I have made. I have no regrets at all.”

Eichelberger’s recent success is a major turn from his misfortunes in high school. As a young high school recruit, he received offers from big Division I schools like Tennessee, Virginia Tech, LSU, and Georgia Tech. Unfortunately, an ACL tear in his junior year left him with just one offer left from Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

After his first season, he transferred to Paul D. Camp to get a reset. Though he focused on pitching, another ACL tear before completing the transfer to Paul D. Camp forced Eichelberger to concentrate on hitting. Luckily for him, he turned out to be a natural, though he’s always ready to get back on the mound.

“Coach brought me here to put the ball in play,” he said. “However, if the coach ever needs me to pitch, I can still do that because I throw heat.”