ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Wichita State first baseman Casey Gillaspie and Evansville’s ace Kyle Freeland highlight the 2014 MVC all-conference baseball teams, being tabbed Joe Carter Player of the Year and Pitcher of the Year, respectively. Evansville's Wes Carroll has been named the league's Dan Callahan Coach of the Year, after leading the Purple Aces to their second regular-season title in program history and the top seed in this week's MVC Baseball Championship. Gillaspie is Wichita State's 16th Player of the Year, while Freeland is just the second Purple Ace to be named Pitcher of the Year. Indiana State right-hander Brad Lombard was named Newcomer of the Year and Sycamores’ rookie reliever Ryan Keaffaber earned Freshman of the Year honors. Indiana State shortstop Tyler Wampler was named the league's Defensive Player of the Year. 

Gillaspie, a junior first baseman from Omaha, Neb., leads the league in batting average (.406), hits (80), RBI (50), home runs (15), on-base percentage (.530) and slugging percentage (.721). His 24 multi-hit games and 15 multi-RBI games both lead the MVC, and he ranks in the nation's top-10 in walks (1st), on-base percentage (1st), slugging percentage (3rd), home runs (5th) and total bases (7th). Gillaspie has reached base safely in all but two games this season and also had a league-high 20-game hitting streak earlier this season. Gillaspie is the 16th Shocker to earn the Valley’s Joe Carter Player of the Year honor. 

Freeland, a product of Denver, Colo., owns a 1.62 ERA and leads the league with 10 victories. His 122 strikeouts rank second in the NCAA, and he has fanned double-digit batters in six of his 13 starts. Giving up just nine walks in 94.2 innings pitched, Freeland's 13.56 strikeout-to-walk ratio also ranks second in the nation. The junior left-hander has allowed two or fewer runs in all but one game this season, while also registering four complete games. Freeland is just the second Purple Ace to win the Valley's Pitcher of the Year honor, joining Ryan Miller (2000).

Lombard, a Fort Dodge, Iowa native, and a Jefferson Community College transfer, made an immediate impact on the mound for the Sycamores this season. In 13 appearances, he owns a 3.51 ERA with 55 strikeouts, tallying a 6-2 record and allowing just 32 runs in 82.0 innings of work. Lombard is the fifth Sycamore to earn the Valley's Newcomer of the Year honor, joining Rick Angell (1998), Clint Barmes (2000), Tim Brewer (2005) and Dakota Bacus (2012).

Keaffaber, a lefty reliever who hails from Wabash, Ind., has been sensational in his Indiana State debut, leading the league with 11 saves, while also adding three victories. His 2.32 ERA ranks fifth in the Valley, allowing just 36 hits (2nd in MVC) and 15 runs (fewest in MVC) in 50.1 innings pitched. His .203 opponent batting average also ranks third in the Valley. Keaffaber is just the second Indiana State player to earn the league's Freshman of the Year honor (Mitch Stetter, 2000).

Wampler, a local product of West Terre Haute, Ind., earns the league's Defensive Player of the Year award. With incredible range in the field, Wampler owns a .973 fielding percentage with 67 putouts and a team-high 152 assists (third in MVC). He also ranks 10th in the league in fielding double plays (27). Wampler is the first Sycamore to earn the league’s Defensive Player of the Year honor.

Carroll, now in his sixth season as head coach of the Evansville baseball squad, led the Purple Aces to their second regular-season MVC title in school history. The Purple Aces 15-6 MVC record is the best in program history since the league started the eight-team, three-game series format, while the 34 total wins also match Carroll’s highest win total since coming to Evansville.

Picked to finish sixth in the preseason poll, Evansville took home its second regular-season crown (first since 2006), earning the top seed in this week’s MVC Baseball Championship.

Carroll earns his first Coach of the Year honor, and is the third Purple Aces' skipper to win Coach of the Year honors, joining Jim Brownlee (2000) and Dave Schrage (2006).

Regular-season champion and top-seeded Evansville placed a league-high four players on the all-conference first team, in Jake Mahon (3B), Kyle Pollock (C), Kevin Kaczmarski (OF) and Kyle Freeland (SP). Dallas Baptist and Wichita State each had three first-team honorees, including Patriots Austin Listi (OF), Paul Voelker (SP) and Brandon Koch (RP), and Shockers Casey Gillaspie (1B), Dayne Parker (UT) and A.J. Ladwig (SP). League runner-up Indiana State has two first team honorees, in Tyler Wampler (SS) and Ryan Keaffaber (RP), while Bradley's Greg Partyka, Illinois State's Paul DeJong and Missouri State's Tate Matheny round out the list of first team accolades.

Featured on the second team are four Shockers, including Chase Simpson (3B), Tyler Baker (C), Daniel Kihle (OF) and Cale Elam (SP), and three Sycamores, in Mike Fitzgerald (UT), Landon Curry (OF) and David Stagg (SP). Two Braves, including Tyler Leffler (SS) and Max Murphy (OF), two Redbirds, in Dan Savas (SP) and Jeremy Rhoades (RP) and two Salukis, including Cody Daily (DH) and Kyle Pauly (RP) are also featured on the second team. Dallas Baptist's Mike Wesolowski (1B) and Evansville's Boomer Synek (2B) round out the members of the 2014 second team.

An additional 16 players were honored as part of the honorable mention all-conference team, as student-athletes must receive at least two votes to be named as honorable mention.

A nine-member all-defensive team was also named for the third-straight season.

All-conference honors and specialty awards are voted on by the league’s eight head baseball coaches.

Joe Carter Player of the Year
Casey Gillaspie, Wichita State

Pitcher of the Year
Kyle Freeland, Evansville

Newcomer of the Year
Brad Lombard, Indiana State

Freshman of the Year
Ryan Keaffaber, Indiana State

Defensive Player of ther Year
Tyler Wampler, Indiana State

Dan Callahan Coach of the Year
Wes Carroll, Evansville