Biography
Honors
• MVC All-Defensive Team (2019)
• Honorable Mention All-MVC (2019)
• Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week (April 22, 2019)
• Preseason All-MVC (2019)
• MVC Championship Most Outstanding Player (2018)
• MVC Championship All-Tournament Team (2018)
• Athletic Director’s Honor Roll (Fall 2015, Spring 2016, Fall 2016, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Spring 2021)
• MVC Scholar-Athlete Team (2018)
• MVC Commissioner’s Academic Excellence Award (2017, 2020-21)
• MVC Honor Roll (2016, 2017, 2021)
2021 (Senior/Career Summary)
Started the final 174 games of his career at first base, including all 44 during a senior season in which he hit .267 with five home runs and 21 RBI...Posted team highs for runs scored (29), walks (40) and on-base percentage (.421) during his sixth season, ranking 17th nationally in walks per game...Ended MSU career as the school’s all-time fielding percentage leader at .993 while ranking fourth in defensive double plays (135) and fifth in putouts (1,361) and total chances (1,471)...Had career totals of 163 hits, 56 extra-base hits, 24 home runs and 103 RBI...Earned his MBA in May 2021.
2020 (Senior)
MSU’s starting first baseman in all 17 games, batting .242 with three home runs and 10 RBIs ... Shared the team lead with 11 walks and three round-trippers ... Raised his career fielding percentage to .9925 with 148 error-free chances, moving to the top spot on the school’s career list ... Part of 11 double plays, giving him 102 in his career for 10th in MSU history ... Batted .311 over the season’s final 13 games ... Drew 10 walks in the last 10 games of the year ... Had four multi-hit games, including a 3-for-4 effort with three RBIs at Rice (Feb. 29) ... Matched his season high with three RBIs versus SIU Edwardsville (March 11), swatting a double and a homer in what proved to be the final game of the season.
2019 (Junior)
Whetstone turned in another strong all-around season as s junior, posting team-best totals for runs scored (36), walks (29) and RBIs (32) while anchoring the Bears’ infield defense, helping turn a league-high 46 double plays ... Earned Honorable Mention All-MVC and MVC All-Defensive Team recognition ... Recorded a team-high 17 two-out RBIs ... Drove in a run in four-consecutive games, Feb. 23-27, including a 3-for-6 effort to help the Bears complete a two-game sweep of Central Arkansas (Feb. 27) ... Logged a career-best 13-game hit streak from April 2-20, hitting .388 (19-for-49) with 17 RBIs over the same span; recorded at least one hit in 17 of 18 games, March 26-April 20 ... Delivered his first long ball of the season at Murray State (April 2), reaching base safely in in five of his six trips to the plate and scoring a career high four runs in the 15-10 MSU victory ... Plated three runs April 9 at Kansas, then posted three-consecutive two-hit outings against Illinois State (April 12-13), hitting .500 for the series ... Homered three times and drove in 10 runs over a four-game stretch, April 16-20, including a four-RBI effort vs. New Orleans (April 20) ... Named one of Collegiate Baseball’s National Players of the Week on April 22 ... Went 2-for-3 with a home run and three RBIs against Bradley (April 27) ... Batted .349 with five homers and 20 RBIs in the month of April, reaching base safely in all 17 contests ... Launched a critical two-run home run in the Bears’ MVC series-clinching win over DBU (May 4) ... Came through with a 2-for-5 afternoon to help MSU overcome a seven-run deficit May 11 at Evansville.
2018 (Sophomore)
Entrenched himself as the Bears’ everyday first baseman as a sophomore, starting all 57 contests for Missouri State ... Registered a breakthrough campaign both at the plate and in the field, hitting .278 with nine home runs and 39 RBIs, while reaching base safely in 54 games; also turned in a .992 fielding percentage for the year, handling 487 of 491 defensive chances, including 44 double plays ... Hit .325 during MVC play, which was good for second on the club ... Finished the season with 13 multi-hit performances and 12 multi-RBI efforts ... Produced six game-winning RBIs, which ranked second on the squad ... Concluded the year with a career-best 13-game hit streak (May 11-June 3), batting .340 (18-for-53) with a pair of home runs during the hot stretch ... Also reached base safely in each of the Bears’ final 21 games, dating back to April 24; that streak followed a string of 31-straight contests reaching safely via a hit, walk or hit by pitch to start the season (Feb. 6-April 13) ... Delivered hits in each of the Bears’ first five games of the year, including a career-best 4-for-5 effort vs. Texas Southern (Feb. 18) that included his first collegiate home run ... Snapped out of a dry spell at the plate with a two-homer performance in a 12-4 victory over No. 30 Arkansas State (March 9); reached base safely in all four of his plate appearances and scored a career-high three runs to go along with three RBIs ... Homered again in the series finale to help MSU claim the rubber match and finish the weekend 4-for-10 with four RBIs ... Kicked off a six-game hit streak (March 23-30) with another two-RBI effort vs. CSUN to help fuel what would become a season-best eight-game win streak for the Bears ... Hit .391 (9-for-23) during his six-game hit streak ... Went 5-for-11 with a home run, three RBIs and three runs in a three-game sweep of Evansville ... Drove home two runs against eventual national champ Oregon State (April 13) ... Homered in midweek contests against Missouri (April 24) and Kansas (May 2) ... Started his torrid stretch drive with a pair of two-hit games against Southern Illinois (May 11-13), finishing the three-game series 5-for-11 with four RBIs and five runs scored ... Logged three hits in MSU’s series opener at DBU (May 17) to help the Bears clinch a share of the Valley’s regular-season title ... Plated a career-high four runs vs. Evansville (May 23 thanks to a sixth-inning, three-run double in the Bears’ 10-0 victory in the opening round of the MVC Championship ... Drove in at least one run in all four MSU victories at the Valley tourney, going 2-for-4 against Indiana State (May 24) and 1-for-5 with two RBIs in the title game vs. DBU (May 27); hit .313 with eight RBIs over the four-game stretch to lock up tournament MVP laurels, becoming the fifth Bear to earn the honor (and the third in the last four seasons) ... Also recorded hits in all three of MSU’s NCAA Oxford Regional games, including a two-RBI effort in the opening contest against Tennessee Tech (June 2) ... Earned a spot on the MVC’s Scholar-Athlete Team for the first time ... Played summer ball for the Edenton Steamers of the
2017 (Freshman)
Appeared in 15 games for the Bears as a redshirt freshman, including a pair of starts as MSU’s designated hitter ... Made his first start at Middle Tennessee (Feb. 26), drawing a pair of walks to help MSU post a 5-0 victory ... Logged his first career hit and RBI with a run-scoring single against Memphis (March 17) in a 9-5 Bears win ... Saw action in the Bears’ NCAA Regional clinching victory at Arkansas (June 5) ... Hit .309 with six homers and 29 RBIs in 44 games for the Quincy Gems of the Prospect League over the summer ... Earned MVC Commissioner’s Academic Excellence Award and Honor Roll recognition.
2016 (Redshirt)
Sat out the 2016 season as a redshirt ... Earned MVC Honor Roll recognition ... Played for the Sedalia Bombers of the MINK League.
Background
Joined the MSU program as a left-handed hitting corner infielder out of Kansas City’s Rockhurst High School ... Hit .385 with three homers and 35 RBIs as a senior en route to earning honorable mention MHSBCA Class 5 All-State recognition ... Batted .380 as a junior in leading Rockhurst to a 20-9 finish, after earning a spot with the Kansas City Royals Elite Scout Team the previous year ... Named an Underclass Honorable Mention All-American by Perfect Game in 2014 after a strong sophomore year in which he posted an 8-0 mound mark that included a complete-game a no-hitter for his Building Champions Baseball Academy summer club.
Personal
Benjamin Whetstone is the son of Byron and Jerri Whetstone ... Born Feb. 22, 1997, in Overland Park, Kan. ... Father played collegiate basketball at Phillips University ... Graduated with his undergraduate degree in finance in December 2019 and is now working on an MBA.
