SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Missouri State juniors Jake Burger and Jake Fromson took home the Bears' top 2017 honors Tuesday when head coach Keith Guttin unveiled team award-winners for the Missouri Valley Conference and NCAA Fayetteville Regional champions. 

Burger was chosen as the Bears' A.E. "Ted" Willis Most Valuable Player and Fromson claimed the Dave Dickensheet Outstanding Pitcher Award, while freshman Nate Witherspoon was selected Danny Cook Rookie of the Year in a vote of their MSU teammates following the conclusion of MSU's 43-20 campaign that culminated in the program's third NCAA Super Regional appearance earlier this month.

A first-team All-America choice of Baseball America, the ABCA and the NCBWA, Burger was the 11th overall pick in the 2017 MLB Draft following a dominant junior campaign. The third baseman currently ranks seventh nationally with 22 home runs, joining forces with shortstop Jeremy Eierman to form the top power duo at the Division I level with 45 combined round-trippers this spring. 

Burger, the 2017 MVC Player of the Year, also leads the Missouri Valley Conference and ranks sixth nationally in runs scored (69), while rating among the nation's top 25 hitters in total bases (160) and RBIs (65) as well. A semifinalist for both the Dick Howser Trophy and Golden Spikes Award, he ranks second among all active Division I hitters with 47 career home runs, while his 241 career hits is the 11th best total in Missouri State history. Additionally, he is just the second Bear to earn first-team All-America recognition in three consecutive seasons, joining Nick Petree (2011-13) for that honor.

Fromson picked up third-team All-America recognition from Collegiate Baseball on the heels of a record-setting junior campaign out of the Missouri State bullpen. He led the MVC with a 2.25 earned run average to go along with an 8-3 mound mark and two saves in a school-record 37 total mound appearances. Fromson, the 38th All-American in MSU program history, became the first reliever to earn the Valley's Pitcher of the Year award since WSU's Marc Bluma in 1998 and the fifth Bear in the last 10 seasons to claim the honor. 

A Lee's Summit, Mo., product, Fromson was particularly dominant in MVC play, going 4-0 and allowing only two earned runs while striking out 32 and walking just three in 26.0 innings over 12 appearances. The right-hander allowed MVC lows for overall earned runs allowed (19) and opponent batting (.170), while ranking seventh overall in the league with 88 strikeouts in 76.0 innings. Fromson also ranks fifth nationally in WHIP (0.86) and ninth in hits allowed per nine innings (5.57).

Witherspoon made an immediate impact on the Bears' mound corps, posting a 4-3 season mark and a 4.29 ERA in 15 total appearances, including five starts. The Eureka, Mo., native struck out 40 batters in 42.0 innings and posted a 2.25 ERA in Valley play. He became the second Bears rookie hurler in as many years to open the season in MSU's weekend rotation, earning a Sunday start at McNeese State. He notched his first career win with a hitless inning against Central Arkansas on March 4 as part of a stretch of four scoreless outings in five total March appearances.

The left-hander saved his best work for the postseason, notching a key win over Illinois State in the MVC Championship with a season-best 7.0 innings over which he permitted just two runs on six hits. Witherspoon capped his year with 3 1/3 solid innings of relief against Arkansas (June 4) at the Fayetteville Regional, holding the top-seeded Razorbacks to a single run on two hits while fanning four batters.

Missouri State's annual team awards are named in honor of three former Bears who made significant contributions to the University's athletics programs. Ted Willis was an MSU football letterman in 1918, and the Bears' team MVP award carries his name through a plaque donated by his widow in memory of his long-standing interest and support of MSU athletics. The Bears' top rookie honor is named for Danny Cook, a standout third baseman for the Bears from 1966 through 1969 who died of leukemia in 1989. Finally, Dave Dickensheet is a Missouri State Athletics Hall of Famer who pitched for the Bears from 1979 through 1982 before succumbing to cancer in 1991.