DES MOINES, Iowa – Prior to the start of the 2018 Missouri Valley Conference Championship, four Bears – Darian Frost, Kaitlin Beason, Daphne Plummer and Erika Velasquez Zimmer – received postseason all-conference honors from the league at the MVC postseason awards banquet, Wednesday night in Des Moines, Iowa.
 
Frost highlighted the Bears' evening and was named to the All-MVC first team – the first all-conference recognition of her career. Velasquez Zimmer received second-team honors for the second consecutive season, and was joined by Plummer and Beason on the 17-man team. Beason also earned a spot on the MVC All-Defensive Team.
 
Picking up the first postseason laurels of her career, Frost served as a stronghold for the Bears behind the plate. One of two catchers to make the All-MVC first team, she led MSU and ranked third in the league with 33 RBI. Frost caught seven runners trying to steal and accounted for 210 of the Bears' putouts this season. She ranks fourth in the nation with six sacrifice flies and finished third in the MSU lineup with 44 hits and a .308 batting average. The Lee's Summit, Mo., native belted five home runs during her junior campaign, including a walk-off grand slam against Southern Illinois and walk-off solo homer against Illinois State. Voted the Missouri State softball team MVP, Frost led the lineup with a 10 multiple-RBI games and a 10-game hitting streak that lasted from Mar. 10-24. 
 
Rising into the Bears' all-time records, Beason's second-team and all-defensive team honors were well justified. Finishing the regular season with 43 hits and a .336 average at the plate, she led the MSU lineup with seven home runs – which landed her third all-time in the Bears' career home runs list with 21. Her .436 on-base and .555 slugging percentages was the highest among all Bears and she boasted a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage at first base with a league-leading 258 putouts. She tallied seven two-hit games and four-three hit games during her final season, and recorded four multiple-RBI games. Heading into the MVC Championship, she rides an 11-game reached-base streak. Beason racked up 22 RBI, seven doubles and 23 walks over the course of the season.
 
One of the most impressive, and consistent, freshman in MSU program history, Plummer received second-team laurels after a record-breaking season as the Bears' everyday shortstop. She surpassed the MSU freshman record for hits in a season with a team-leading 62 hits. She led all Valley freshmen and ranks fourth overall with a .380 average at the plate and ranks third in the league in hits. Plummer earned MVC Newcomer of the Week honors on Feb. 19 and was recognized as the MVC Player of the Week on Apr. 30. She led the Bear lineup with 19 multiple-hit games, including 4-for-4 performances against Oklahoma State and Evansville. She paced the pack with 11 doubles and 77 total bases, while maintaining a .472 slugging percentage. Defensively she registered a team-high 110 assists to go along with her .937 fielding percentage. The newcomer collected a team-high 30 hits and four doubles in MVC action.
 
Starting all 51 games in center field, Velasquez Zimmer earned postseason all-conference honors for the third time of her career. With a team-high 17 stolen bases this season, she became the Bears' all-time career stolen base leader with 63 over her four-year career. Thanks to her 51 hits this season, she now ranks fifth in program history with 196 career hits. She led the Bears and finished third in the MVC with 34 runs scored and was one of two regular starters to maintain a spotless 1.000 fielding percentage. She boasted 13 multiple-hit games this season, as well as three multiple-RBI contests. Velasquez Zimmer collected a season-high three hits and six total bases against Omaha and Southern Illinois this season, and went on a nine-game hitting streak from Feb. 16-24. The Coppell, Texas, native was named to the MVC Preseason All-Conference Team to begin the 2018 season.
 
MSU received a two-round bye to start the 2018 MVC Championship and will wait to face their opponent at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, May 11 at Buel Field. Sixth-seeded UNI will take on No. 7 Illinois State on Thursday and the winner will advance to play No. 3 Southern Illinois on Friday at 1:30 p.m. The winner of that contest will go head-to-head against the Bears later that night. For more information regarding the 2018 championship, visit the MVC website at MVC-Sports.com.
 
 
2018 All-MVC First Team

Pos.	Name	School
C	Katelyn Massa	Southern Illinois
C	Darian Frost	Missouri State
1B	Sarah Maddox	Drake
1B	Allison Apke	Bradley
2B	Leslie Sims	Indiana State
2B	Maddy Vermejan	Southern Illinois
3B	Taryn Pena	Drake
SS	Mandi Roemmich	Drake
OF	Bella Peterson	Indiana State
OF	Riley Hale	Illinois State
OF	Brittney Roby	UNI
P	Nicole Newman	Drake
P	Brianna Jones	Southern Illinois
DP/UT-NP	Eryn Gould	Evansville
UT/P	Morgan Florey	Evansville
OF	Shannon McGee	Loyola
SS	Sammey Bunch	UNI

 
 
2018 All-MVC Second Team

Pos.	Name	School
C	Maria Schroeder	Bradley
1B	Allison Spence	Illinois State
1B	Kaitlin Beason	Missouri State
2B	Kennedy Frank	Drake
3B	Sydney Jones	Southern Illinois
SS	Daphne Plummer	Missouri State
OF	Jenny Jansen	Southern Illinois
OF	Tasha Alexander	Drake
OF	Macy Johnson	Drake
P	Kiley Jones	Loyola
P	Kelsie Packard	Valparaiso
DP/UT-NP	Olivia Brooks	UNI
UT/P	Kailee Smith	Drake
OF	Erika Velasquez Zimmer	Missouri State
OF	Alyssa Wiebel	Illinois State
P	Nicole Timmons	Drake
3B	Stacia Seeton	Bradley

 
2018 MVC All-Defensive Team

Pos.	Name	School
2B	Maddy Vermejan	Southern Illinois
SS	Riley Strandgard	Illinois State
OF	Brittany Hay	Evansville
SS	Sammey Bunch	UNI
C	Gabbie Jonas	Drake
1B	Kaitlin Beason	Missouri State
2B	Carly Trepanier	Valparaiso
3B	Shaye Barton	Indiana State
C	Maria Schroeder	Bradley
C	Katie Kasubke	Loyola