SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Missouri State junior outfielder Tate Matheny was one of 54 Division I baseball players picked by Perfect Game for 2015 preseason All-America honors on Friday. Matheny, a two-time All-Missouri Valley Conference performer, landed a spot of PG's second team and was one of just two Valley players selected by the organization for its preseason All-America squads.

Matheny, who was joined by third-teamer Brandon Koch of Dallas Baptist in the Valley's contingent of Perfect Game preseason honorees, captured MSU's Willis Award as team MVP for the second straight year in 2014 after turning in one of the top all-around performances in the MVC. He powered the Bears' offense with a .330 batting mark, while his 10 home runs ranked third in the league and marked the first double-digit total for a Missouri State player since 2009.

The St. Louis native, who has started all 108 games of his Missouri State career, is the Bears' active leader in home runs (14) and hitting with a .333 career average. A First-Team All-MVC selection last spring, he led all MVC batters with 35 hits in league play and ranked among the conference's statistical leaders in nearly every significant offensive category during the Valley season. Matheny was an ABCA All-Midwest Region honoree after leading MSU in slugging (.528), on-base percentage (.421), total bases (115), runs scored (42), RBIs (37) and multi-hit games (23) for the season. Additionally, he was charged with just one miscue in 155 defensive chances while starting 54 of the Bears' 57 games in center field to earn MVC All-Defensive Team and All-MVC Tournament honors as well.

Last Summer, Matheny became the sixth Bear to be selected to compete for USA Baseball's Collegiate National Team during head coach Keith Guttin's tenure and the first MSU position player to earn a national team roster spot since Ryan Howard in 2000. Over the 28-game summer schedule that included international competition in the Netherlands and Cuba, Matheny finished with the third-highest batting mark for Team USA, logging a .288 average to go along with one home run, 11 RBIs and six steals in six attempts.

The Bears, who finished 26-31 and finished sixth in the MVC race last spring, will welcome back 19 letterwinners and seven regular position starters this season. The 2015 campaing, which gets underway Feb. 13 against UT Arlington in Nacogdoches, Texas, will mark the 33rd at the Division I level for Missouri State.