Ryan Mantle and Tanner Mattson earned first-team honors and Chris Taylor was an honorable mention pick to the Missouri Valley Scholar-Athlete baseball squad, determined by a vote of league sports information directors and released by the conference office Monday.

A sophomore from Eureka, Mo., Mantle was one of the Bears’ top sluggers in 2007, hitting five homers, two triples and six doubles for a .454 slugging percentage and .262 batting average in 51 games. Mantle also drove in 26 runs. He won an MVC Player and Scholar-Athlete of the Week for his performances April 2-8, and carries a 3.85 GPA in insurance in risk management.

Mattson, a senior with a 3.48 GPA in sales/sales management, was Missouri State’s fourth-leading hitter with a .276 average on the year. He hit safely in 14 of season’s final 16 games and led the team in nearly every offensive category over that time, including a .339 average and 13 RBIs.

Taylor is a fifth-year senior with a 3.20 GPA in history education. He hit .245 on the year but stepped up his play to a .327 average in the final 16 games. Taylor finished his Missouri State career as a .293 hitter with 42 multi-hit games.

The criteria for the Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete Team voting parallels the CoSIDA (College

Sports Information Directors of America) standards for Academic All-America voting. Nominees must be starters

or important reserves, with at least a 3.00 cumulative grade point average. Student-athletes must have reached

sophomore athletic and academic standing at their institution and must have completed at least one full academic

year at their institution.