Missouri State

JIM LUNTZER
Baseball, 1979-82
Inducted February 4, 2006

Jim Luntzer was a four-year starter for the baseball Bears of coach Bill Rowe in a career from 1979 to 1982 which included the Bears' final four seasons in Division II. Luntzer started at third base for Missouri State his first three seasons and moved to first base his senior year. MSU claimed its first MIAA championship in nine years in 1979 when Luntzer was a freshman and the Bears advanced to NCAA Division II Regional Tournament play at Meador Park. The Bears finished as MIAA Southern Division champs in 1980 and again reached regional play. The Bears won the MIAA South in 1981 and advanced to the MIAA LCS but missed a selection to NCAA play. The Bears were a Division II independent in 1982 and won the NCAA regional tournament at Edwardsville, Ill., by beating host SIUE once and Mankato State twice to advance to the Division II College World Series in Riverside, Calif., in a 31-14 season. The Bears compiled a record of 129-57 in Luntzer's four seasons . Luntzer received one MIAA all-conference selection and landed a spot on the NCAA all-regional tourney team as a senior in 1982. Luntzer, a product of Fox High in Arnold, Mo., and a selectee to the inaugural athletics hall of fame induction class at Fox High in March, 2006, hit over .300 all four of his seasons with the Bears. He wound up with a career batting average of .335 for 170 Missouri State games, with a top hitting mark of .366 as a junior. Luntzer hit two home runs in each of his four seasons for the Bruins and wound up with 172 hits, 39 doubles, nine triples, 107 runs batted in, 13 stolen bases and 11 game-winning RBIs. He fielded .990 with just one error his junior year and fielded .997 with one error in 344 total chances at first base as a senior, leading the Bears in fielding both seasons.