MVC Release
 
ST. LOUIS – Missouri State had the most selections on this year's Missouri Valley Conference Softball Scholar-Athlete Team, the league announced Monday. The Bears have five selections, including three named to the first team.
 
Seniors Kaitlin Beason (Webb City, Mo.) and Erika Velasquez Zimmer (Coppell, Texas) join sophomore teammate Erin Griesbauer (Blue Springs, Mo.) on the first team, while junior Darian Frost (Lee's Summit, Mo.) and sophomore Hannah Heinrichs (Broken Arrow, Okla.) were named as honorable mention selections.
 
In order to be eligible for the exclusive list, which includes 11 first-team All-MVC picks, student-athletes must have at least a 3.2 cumulative grade-point average, be at least a sophomore in athletic and academic standing, and meet certain playing requirements.
 
Beason, a post-graduate first baseman with a 3.62 GPA, was on the MVC All-Defensive Team and All-MVC second team and MVC All-Tournament Team this year. She was also a 2017 Scholar-Athlete First-Team selection. She started 48 games for the Bears and hit .333 with 24 RBI and a team-high seven home runs. She finished third all-time on MSU's career home run list with 21.
 
Velasquez Zimmer, an Exercise and Movement Science major with a 3.90 GPA, earned MVC Scholar-Athlete honorable mention honors in 2016. She batted .294 as a senior and started all 52 games in center field. She shared team-high honors with 17 stolen bases and is the program's all-time leader in stolen bases (63).
 
Griesbauer holds a 3.98 GPA in Exercise and Movement Science and led the Bears with a 2.41 ERA. She made 28 appearances in the circle this season with 13 starts and an 8-4 record with three saves. She walked just 20 batters on the season and struck out 40.
 
Frost has a 3.24 GPA in Administrative Management and was a first-team All-MVC selection this year. She batted .308 with a team-high 34 RBI and committed just three errors in 237 defensive chances at catcher.
 
Heinrichs has a perfect 4.0 GPA in Middle School Education. The redshirt sophomore outfielder played in 44 games this season, starting 35. She was second on the team with four sacrifice bunts and accumulated 34 putouts, mostly in right field.
 
The Bears finished the 2018 campaign with a 32-20 record after finishing second in the MVC standings with a 17-9 conference ledger.