DALLAS – After leading Missouri State to its second regular-season Missouri Valley Conference title in three seasons, Bears infielders
Jake Burger and
Jeremy Eierman were named semifinalists for the 2017 Dick Howser Trophy Thursday by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.
The award, given to the top player in collegiate baseball, is based on two rounds of national voting, with the winner announced on June 16 prior to the start of the 2017 College World Series.
With two candidates named among this year's 25 semifinalists for the Dick Howser Trophy, Missouri State is one of only four Division I schools nationwide to place multiple players on the list, joining top 10 programs Oregon State, Texas Tech and Louisville for the distinction.
Together, Burger and Eierman have formed one of the more potent combinations in the country, joining forces to post the top home run total for Division I teammates with 38 homers in 50 games to date. The duo ranks first and second in the Valley in home runs, RBIs, runs scored and total bases this spring, while posting a combined .959 fielding percentage on the left side of the Bears' infield.
The honor marks the second-consecutive year Burger has been tabbed a semifinalist for the NCBWA's top individual honor. The junior All-American joined a prestigious group of MVC hitters this past weekend when he clubbed his 45th career home run to break into the Valley's all-time top 20. Burger, one of only two Bears to ever reach the 20-home run mark in back-to-back seasons, leads the MVC and ranks third nationally with his 20 round-trippers and ranks fourth in both runs scored (62) and total bases (139), as well as 13th in slugging (.706) among all Division I hitters this season. The Chesterfield, Mo., product is hitting .345 for the season and ranks among the top three Valley hitters in eight different offensive statistical categories.
Eierman has enjoyed a breakthrough 2017 campaign as well, bringing a .332 season average, as well as league-leading totals for RBIs (57) and total bases (139) into this weekend's final regular-season series at Illinois State. The Warsaw, Mo., native has hit a career-high 18 homers to rank sixth nationally and second only to Burger on the MVC leaderboard. The sophomore has posted Valley-best totals for slugging (.859), runs scored (26), RBIs (24) and home runs (9) in league play to help steer the Bears to a perfect 17-0 start. He has been one of the league's top defensive standouts as well, with just seven errors in 217 total defensive chances at shortstop.
This is the 31st year of the Dick Howser Trophy. The finalists will be announced on Friday, June 9. The 2017 award will be presented at TD Ameritrade Stadium in downtown Omaha, the home of the College World Series for the seventh year. The winner will be unveiled on MLB Network on Friday, June 16 and then a press conference with the winner will be held on Saturday, June 17 at 10 a.m. (CDT), the opening day of the 2017 CWS.
The candidates hail from 11 different conferences and 21 different schools. The Atlantic Coast Conference leads the way with six semifinalists, followed by the Southeastern Conference with four, Big 12 and Pac-12 with three, Missouri Valley and Ohio Valley with two each and American Athletic, Big Ten, Conference USA, Southland and West Coast Conferences with one each. Every position on the diamond is represented, including six starting pitchers, four first basemen, four outfielders, three shortstops, two third basemen, two second basemen, two utility players, one catcher and one relief pitcher.
The Dick Howser Trophy, given in memory of the former Florida State University All-America shortstop and major league player and manager, who died of brain cancer in 1987, is regarded by many as college baseball's most prestigious award. Criteria for consideration of the trophy include performance on the field, leadership, moral character and courage, qualities that were exemplified by Dick Howser's life.
Missouri State (36-14, 17-0 MVC), ranked as high as No. 12 in this week's polls, will conclude the regular season with a three-game MVC series at Illinois State, beginning with a 6 p.m. contest this evening at Duffy Bass Field in Normal, Ill.
