Honors
• MVC Elite 18 Award (2016)
• CoSIDA Academic All-District VI (2016)
• MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team (2016)
• MVC Commissioner's Academic Excellence Award (2016)
• MVC Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll (2016)
• MVC Commissioner's Academic Excellence Award (2015)
• MVC Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll (2015)
• MVC Commissioner's Academic Excellence Award (2014)
• MVC Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll (2014)
2016: Jefferson turned in his best season at the plate as a junior, batting .286 with career highs for every major offensive category while making 34 starts and playing in 52 games overall ... Clubbed three homers and drove in 24 runs—12 of which came with two outs—while scoring 31 times ... Swiped six bases, which was good for second on the squad, and hit .320 with runners in scoring position ... Hit .301 with 17 of his RBIs at home ... Logged eight multi-hit games for the season, including career-best three-hit performances on three separate occasions, to go along with six multi-RBI efforts, four of which were three-RBI games ... Belted a three-run homer vs. UConn (Feb. 26) and recorded hits in all three of MSU's games at the Governor's Challenge (Feb. 26-28) ... Went 2-for-2 with a home run and three runs scored to help complete a three-game sweep of Iowa (March 20); followed that effort with a 3-for-4 night against Arkansas State in which he doubled, drove in three runs and scored three of his own after stealing a career-best two bags in the 15-11 victory ... Registered another key two-game stretch vs. Central Michigan (March 31-April 1), going 5-for-7 with three runs scored to help the Bears complete a three-game sweep of the Chippewas ... Drove in three runs with a crucial first-inning double that helped pave the way to a 15-4 win over Saint Louis (April 5) ... Went 6-for-12 with three RBIs and four runs scored over a four-game stretch vs. Indiana State and Arkansas (April 29-May 3); tripled, scored three runs and drove home three more as part of his 3-for-4 night vs. Arkansas ... Made his lone mound appearance of the season May 8 vs. Southern Illinois, allowing one run on three hits over 2.0 innings ... Fashioned a career-best six-game hit streak (May 7-17) ... Reached base safely in 11 straight games, April 29-May 17, hitting .317 over the same stretch ... Finished the year on a hot streak, hitting .438 (7-for-16) over the Bears' final seven games, including a memorable performance at the MVC Championship; went 5-for-8 with three RBIs in MSU's two wins over host Indiana State and hit .455 overall with five runs scored and three RBIs and earned the MVC Elite 18 Award as the tournament's top academic performer as well ... Received the MVC Commissioner's Academic Excellence Award for the third-consecutive year, as well as CoSIDA Academic All-District VI and MVC Scholar-Athlete first-team honors.
2015: Emerged as a two-way threat in his second year with the Bears, seeing action in 24 games as an outfielder while making a positive impression on the mound with a 2.51 ERA in 11 appearances ... Logged a hit and scored a run off the bench in the Bears’ 17-4 win over Little Rock (Feb. 21) ... Matched career highs with two hits and two runs scored in a 14-4 victory against Wright State (March 6); also swiped a personal-best two bases vs. the eventual NCAA-qualifying Raiders ... Made his collegiate mound debut with a hitless and scoreless inning at Kansas State on March 13 ... Recorded three scoreless relief outings in his first four mound appearances (March 13-21) and did not allow a hit until his fifth outing on March 24 vs. Kansas...Fanned three batters in 5 1/3 scoreless innings — his longest outing of the season — April 4 vs. Dallas Baptist to help extend the game to 13 innings ... Struck out two or more hitters in four consecutive outings (April 4-25), working more than 1.1 innings just once during the same stretch...Delivered a pinch-hit, RBI single as part of MSU’s five-run 10th-inning rally at Illinois State (April 24) that led to an 8-3 victory ... Delivered a 2-for-4 performance in his first start in two months vs. Wichita State (May 21) at the MVC Championship; doubled, drove in a run and scored another in the 8-1 Bears’ win ... Singled and scored a run in MSU’s Valley Tournament clinching win against Bradley (May 24) ... Saw action off the bench in the Bears’ 14-1 NCAA Regional opener vs. Canisius (May 30).
2014: Saw action in 31 games as a freshman, drawing 17 starting assignments in the MSU outfield ... Batted .226 and posted a .360 on-base percentage to go along with a home run and two steals, while scoring 15 runs in just 76 plate appearances ... Scored two runs in five different contests ... Enjoyed a solid showing at the Lobo Invite (Feb. 21-22), logging a hit in each of his first three games as a Bear and scoring four times to help the Bears go 3-1 on the weekend ... Tripled and scored in his first collegiate game, a 9-8 win over Northern Illinois (Feb. 21); filled in for an injured Tate Matheny the following day, going 2-for-5 with four walks and four runs scored in wins over NIU and host New Mexico ... Returned from a five-week layoff by clubbing his first collegiate homer in his first at-bat April 12 at Bradley; added another hit and scored twice in the same contest ... Matched his season best with two hits in five at-bats at UT Martin (April 25) ... Reached base safely in nine straight games, including a seven-game hit streak (April 19-30) ... Delivered a two-out, two-run single as part of the Bears' five-run seventh inning in a 7-2 win over Bradley at the MVC Championship (May 22) ... Received the MVC Commissioner's Academic Excellence Award and a spot on the conference's academic honor roll in recognition of his work in the classroom ... Named a California Collegiate League All-Star for the SoCal Catch; led his club with 30 runs scored and 25 steals.
Background: Named a Louisville Slugger High School All-American after batting .455 with a .542 on-base percentage, 51 runs scored and 20 stolen bases in 20 attempts as a senior at Normal Community West High ... Helped his team to a 32-4 overall record, including 27 straight wins in 2013 ... Also a left-handed pitcher for the Wildcats, Jefferson went 3-3 with a 1.74 ERA and 49 strikeouts in 44.1 innings pitched, earning all-state honors from the Illinois Baseball Coaches Association ... As a junior, was named 2012 CornbeltBaseball.com Pitcher of the Year after going 9-1 with a 1.23 ERA on the mound, holding the opposition to a .157 batting average and tossing three shutouts to help go 30-8 and win a regional title ... Also stood out at the plate, batting .418 with team highs of 35 runs scored, 49 hits, 14 doubles and 17 stolen bases as an outfielder for the Wildcats ... A talented quarterback for the Wildcats on the grid iron as well, Jefferson was tabbed The Bloomington Pantagraph's prep player of the year as a junior after racking up 3,476 yards of total offense and accounting for 45 touchdowns.
Personal: Alex Miguel Jefferson is the son of Andrew and Mary Jefferson ... Born Nov. 8, 1994 in Normal, Ill. ... Brother, Andrew, pitched for the Bears from 1999-2002 and went on to enjoy a four-year professional career ... Plans to major in accounting.
