MVC Release
 
ST. LOUIS – Missouri State softball tandem of Kyana Mason and Erin Griesbauer have received additional postseason honors from the Missouri Valley Conference, the league announced Monday, both earning MVC Scholar-Athlete Team distinction.
 
Mason, the club's leadoff hitter and starting third baseman for all 51 games, was named to the MVC Scholar-Athlete first team after posting a 3.49 cumulative grade-point average in Psychology.  She led the Bears in hitting (.388), runs (34), hits (64), triples (5), home runs (4), stolen bases (13), total bases (89), slugging percentage (.539) and on-base percentage (.443), while leading all MVC players in assists (127).
 
The senior from Independence, Mo., was also named to the All-MVC first team and MVC All-Defensive Team this season in addition to earning MVC Player of the Week honors on March 4. Her 64 hits this season marked the fourth-most in a single season in program history and the most by any MSU player since 1997.
 
Griesbauer, a right-handed pitcher with a 3.97 grade-point average in Exercise & Movement Science was named as an honorable mention selection to the MVC Scholar-Athlete Team.  She was 7-8 in the circle this season with a 3.60 ERA in 19 starts. She made 27 appearances, threw 93.1 innings and struck out 51 hitters. She also had a 2.70 ERA in conference games for the Bears.
 
The junior from Blue Springs, Mo., was on the MVC Scholar-Athlete first team in 2018 and has been an NFCA Scholar-Athlete each of the past two seasons. She has also been recognized by the MVC with its Commissioner's Academic Excellence Award and MVC Honor Roll honors in both 2017 and 2018.
 
Coach Holly Hesse's Bears finished the 2019 campaign with a 30-21 overall record and finished fifth in the MVC regular-season standings with a 14-11 league mark. Mason was the only active senior on this year's roster at season's end. Senior classmate Morgan Greenlee missed the final 32 games of the year with a season-ending injury, while the club's other 17 players are expected to return for the 2020 season.