Four Bears Earn All-America Honors From Collegiate Baseball
May 28, 2015 | Baseball
TUCSON, Ariz. - Junior pitcher Matt Hall led a record contingent of Missouri State baseball players named to All-America teams Thursday, as four Bears were cited for Louisville Slugger postseason honors by Collegiate Baseball. Hall was a first-team selection, while fellow junior hurler Jon Harris picked up second-team laurels, while sophomore closer Bryan Young and freshman third baseman Jake Burger earned third-team recognition.
Missouri State's four honorees represents a program-high in terms of All-America selections in a single season. The Bears' previous high in one year came in 2013, when Harris joined Tate Matheny on Collegiate Baseball's Freshman All-America team and Nick Petree was a consensus All-America choice for the second consecutive season.
The nation's strikeout leader with 152 entering NCAA Regional play, Hall shattered the Bears' single-season record and enters the postseason just 14 K's shy of the Missouri Valley Conference's all-time season mark. The junior from Lee's Summit, Mo., leads the Bears with 10 victories, while his 2.17 ERA ranks second only to Harris among all Valley starting pitchers. He has logged seven double-digit strikeout totals in his 15 starts this year and leads the league with 108.0 innings pitched. Hall's 12.67 strikeout-per-9.0 innings pitched rate is the best in school history, while his 256 career strikeouts is third in Missouri State history.
Harris, the 2015 MVC Pitcher of the Year, picks up his second All-America nod from Collegiate Baseball after a standout season that saw the junior log a 7-1 mound mark to date. The Florissant, Mo., product leads all MVC starting pitchers in overall ERA (1.91) and opponent batting average (.196), while ranking third in total strikeouts (105) and seventh in victories (7). The right-hander was one of 60 players named to the midseason USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award watch list before becoming the sixth Bear to earn the Valley's top pitching honor last week. Harris was nearly untouchable in league play, holding Valley foes to a .145 batting mark while reaching double-digit strikeout totals in four of his six MVC starts while posting a 4-0 record and 1.70 ERA in conference action.
Young was one of 39 players named to the watch list for the 11th annual National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Stopper of the Year Award, given to the top relief pitcher in NCAA Division I baseball. The junior from Kansas City leads the Bears with a Missouri State single-season record 14 saves to go along with a 1.16 earned run average, while logging a perfect 7-0 mark overall in his 27 outings. Young was nearly unhittable in Valley play, recording a conference-high six saves and five wins while allowing just one unearned run on eight hits over 19.1 innings en route to earning First-Team All-MVC recognition. He locked down his record-setting 14th save in Sunday's MVC title game against Bradley, surpassing the school record shared by Dan Kickham (2011) and Shaun Marcum (2003).
Burger becomes just the third Bear, along with Mark Bailey (1980) and Bob Blakley (1974), in the 52-year history of the program to be selected for an All-America team other than an all-freshman squad. The Chesterfield, Mo., product wasted little time in establishing himself as one of The Valley's top corner men in his rookie season, bringing 68 hits--the eighth-highest total in the MVC and the top mark for a Valley freshman--and the top overall doubles total (20) into postseason play. The third baseman has already equaled the Bears' all-time freshman doubles record, matching Jason Hart's rookie total of 20 from 1996. Burger leads the team with 22 multi-hit games and has a club-best 19 two-out RBIs this spring.
The No. 8 national seed in the 2015 NCAA Division I Baseball Championship, Missouri State will host the four-team Springfield Regional at Hammons Field this weekend. Making their second NCAA Tournament appearance in four seasons, the top-seeded Bears (45-10) will face the Canisius Golden Griffins (34-28) in opening-round action at 6:05 p.m. (CT) Friday (May 29).
