The Missouri Southern baseball team picked up three of the four yearly awards as the Lions had the Pitcher, Freshman and Coach of the Year when the MIAA announced its postseason honors for baseball today.
Zach Parish is the Pitcher of the Year, while Dexter Swims is the Freshman of the Year and Bryce Darnell is the MIAA Coach of the Year.
The Lions had 12 players altogether named to the All-MIAA team. Parish, Swims and Freddie Landers were named first-team selections, while Zac Shoemaker and Troy Gagan were second-team picks. Denver Coffee and Mike Million picked up third-team honors, while Will Bausinger, Logan VanWey, River Wright, Jon Leighton and Matt Miller all were named honorable mention picks.
Parish finished the regular-season with an 8-1 record, a 2.44 ERA and a school-record 126 strikeouts. He leads the MIAA in fewest hits, strikeouts and wins, while ranking third in ERA. He helped the Lions set the single-season strikeout mark as Southern has fanned 505 batters this season. Parish is 28 strikeouts from breaking the MIAA single-season record, while the Lions are 59 k's from breaking the team single-season record. Parish was part of a school record 21 strikeouts for the Lion earlier in the year that set an MSSU single-game record and he has held opposing batters to a .186 batting average.
Swims leads the Lions this year with a .346 batting average, starting in all 47 games he played in. He has a team-high 71 hits, finishing fifth in the MIAA in that category, while ranking fifth in runs and doubles, as well as eighth in total bases. He is tied with fellow freshman Miller and Coffee for the team-high in RBIs with 34.
Darnell and the Lions were picked to finish sixth in the MIAA preseason coaches' poll and the Lions went on to win 32 games, 23 in league play, en-route to a second-place finish, just one game out of the league lead.
Freddie Landers is hitting .341 this year and leads the team with ten home runs, while ranking second with 33 RBIs. Landers set a new MSSU school record this year with 20 times being hit by a pitch, which leads the MIAA and ranked 19th nationally. He ranks sixth in the league in home runs, eighth in runs scored and ninth in total bases, while ranking tenth in walks.
Shoemaker is second on the team with a 7-2 record and had a 3.20 ERA in his sophomore season. Shoemaker is second in the MIAA in wins, while leading the league with Parish in starts. Shoemaker has struck out 71 batters and is holding opponents to a .248 batting average.
Gagan was a true utility player for the Lions seeing action at first base, second base, the outfield and designated hitter throughout the season. Gagan hit .282 with six home runs and finished second on the team with 33 RBIs.
Coffee started every game this year at shortstop for the Lions. He finished with a .278 batting average, six home runs and tied for the team-high in RBIs with 34. He ranked third in the MIAA in doubles, sixth in triples and fourth in sacrifice flies. Million ranked second in the MIAA in walks with 38, while adding seven home runs, 14 doubles, 31 RBIs.
Bausinger became just the 25th player in NCAA Division II history, and the first in MIAA history, to throw a perfect game when he struck out 17 in a flawless performance earlier in the year against Washburn. Bausinger struck out 100 batters on the season, while limiting batters to a .220 average and finished the regular season with a 5-4 record.
Wright was the workhorse for the Lions this year with a team-high 26 appearances out of the bullpen. He finished with a 2-1 record, one save, and a 2.70 ERA. VanWey struck out 29 batters in 17 innings for the Lions, limiting hitters to a .231 average in 23 appearances.
Leighton finished third on the team with a career-high .321 batting average, including four home runs, 23 RBIs, ten doubles and a team-high three triples and a team-best .578 slugging percentage. Miller finished the regular-season tied for the team-high in RBIs (34) and was second on the team with nine home runs. He slugged .533 and had a .993 fielding percentage.
Southern will open up the MIAA Tournament tomorrow at 12:30 pm as the No. 2 seed Lions take on the No. 7 seed Northwest Missouri from Al Ortolani Field in Pittsburg, Kan.
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