At Missouri State: One of the hardest workers ever to play at Missouri State, Matt Lawson is a two-year letterwinner with 76 career starts at second base under his belt. Lawson is expected to be a team leader both on the field and on the stat sheet.
2006: Second-team all-MVC second baseman ... Hit .330 and led Missouri State with 75 hits, 19 doubles and 23 extra-base hits ... Drove in 28 runs and had a .392 on-base percentage ... Accounted for 37 percent of MSU's stolen bases, successfully swiping 20 bases in 23 attempts ... Went 5-for-5 and scored three runs against Evansville (4/2), and collected four hits against Arkansas State (3/11) and Indiana State (5/20) ... Had 22 multi-hit games ... Went 3-for-3 with two doubles against Creighton (5/7) ... Stole a career-high three bases against Illinois State (5/13) ... Scored 43 runs to lead the Bears ... Finished the season with a solid .952 fielding percentage ... Hit safely in 10 of 11 games from 3/29-4/15.
2005: Lawson started 26 games, 21 of them at second base ... In 88 at bats, he hit .216, contributed eight RBIs and four doubles ... Was 2-for-3 with two RBIs in a win over Iowa (3/5) ... Played for the Nevada Griffons in the Jayhawk League ... The Griffons finished fourth in the league, while Lawson hit .279 with 26 RBIs and 14 stolen bases.
Background: Lawson joined the Bears after leading the Carl Junction Bulldogs to conference and district titles as a senior in 2004 ... Lawson hit .402 with 11 extra-base hits, 35 RBIs and 20 stolen bases in 26 games for the Bulldogs ... He was a two-time all-state selection and three-time all-conference honoree.
Personal: Matthew Ryan Lawson is the son of Dennis and Karen Lawson and was born November 18, 1985, in Joplin, Mo. ... He has one sister, Megan ... Matt is a physical education major at Missouri State.
