ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Missouri State third baseman Jake Burger and Missouri State reliever Jake Fromson highlight the 2017 MVC all-conference baseball teams, being tabbed Joe Carter Player of the Year and Pitcher of the Year, respectively. Missouri State's Keith Guttin has been named the league's Dan Callahan Coach of the Year, after leading the Bears to their fifth regular-season title in program history and the top seed in this week's MVC Baseball Championship. Burger is Missouri State's fifth Player of the Year, while Fromson is the seventh Bear to be named Pitcher of the Year. Missouri State left-hander Doug Still was named Newcomer of the Year and Bradley rookie third baseman Brendan Dougherty earned Freshman of the Year honors. DBU shortstop Camden Duzenack was named the league's Defensive Player of the Year.
Burger, a junior third baseman from Chesterfield, Mo., ranks second in the Valley in batting average (.346), slugging percentage (.693), on-base percentage (.459), RBI (57) and total bases (142). He has 24 multi-hit games and 15 multi-RBI games this season, and he also leads the league in runs scored (62) and home runs (20). He had a 14-game hitting streak earlier this season and ranks in the top 15 nationally in home runs (4th), runs scored (9th), slugging percentage (10th) and total bases (15th). The junior standout is a semifinalist for the NCBWA Dick Howser Trophy for the second-straight season. Burger is the fifth Bear to earn the Valley’s Joe Carter Player of the Year honor, joining Bill Mueller (1993), Steve Hacker (1995), Matt Cepicky (1999) and Brayden Drake (2009).
Fromson, a product of Lee's Summit, Mo., owns a league-best 2.01 ERA among all pitchers and has registered a 7-3 record in 30 relief appearances. His 76 strikeouts rank sixth in the Valley, while his .151 opponent batting average leads the league. The junior leads the nation in WHIP (0.73) and ranks third in hits allowed per nine innings (4.88). Fromson is the first reliever to earn the Valley's top honor for a pitcher since WSU's Marc Bluma in 1998. Fromson is the seventh Bear to win the Valley's Pitcher of the Year honor, joining Rob Garola (1997), Brad Ziegler (2003), Tim Clubb (2008), Buddy Baumann (2009), Nick Petree (2012) and Jon Harris (2015).
Still, a Sikeston, Mo., native, and a Jefferson College transfer, made an immediate impact on the mound for the Bears this season. In 13 appearances, he owns a 2.66 ERA with 73 strikeouts, tallying a 7-1 record and allowing just 30 runs in 81.1 innings of work. His seven wins, 81.1 innings pitched and 2.66 ERA rank third in the Valley this season, while his 73 strikeouts stand seventh in the league. Still is the ninth Bear to earn the Valley's Newcomer of the Year honor.
Dougherty, a third baseman who hails from Des Moines, Iowa, has been sensational in his Bradley debut. He leads all MVC freshmen in batting, boasting a .300 season average, including a .311 mark in his 20 conference games. Dougherty becomes the third player in Bradley Baseball history to be named MVC Freshman of the Year, following Doug Robertson (1994) and Brad Altbach (2007), but he is the first position player to earn the distinction. Dougherty was 3-for-4 with a double in each of the three games versus Illinois State and he posted the team's longest streak of reaching base safely with a 20-game run from April 7-May 12.
Duzenack, a product of Melissa, Texas, earns the league's Defensive Player of the Year award. With numerous sensational highlight-reel plays from the shortstop position, Duzenack posted a .960 fielding position with just 11 errors in 276 chances. The senior ranks fifth in games played (210) and third in games started (206) in DBU's Division I history. Duzenack is the first Patriot to earn the league’s Defensive Player of the Year honor.
Guttin, now in his 35th season as head coach of the Missouri State baseball squad, led the Bears to their fifth regular-season Missouri Valley Conference title in school history. The Bears 18-1 MVC record is the best in program history since the league started the eight-team, three-game series format, while the 18-0 conference start was a new MVC record. The Bears also reeled off a Valley-record 22-straight wins dating back to the 2016 season.
Guttin picked up his 1,200th career victory on April 18 against Missouri, and ranks 23rd all-time among NCAA Division I coaches in total wins. With a career record of 1,213-754 (.617), Guttin currently ranks seventh amongst active coaches on the NCAA’s all-time wins list.
Guttin earns his sixth Missouri Valley Conference Dan Callahan Coach of the Year honor, winning previously in 1993, 2001, 2003, 2008 and 2015. Only former Wichita State skipper Gene Stephenson (11) has more Valley Coach of the Year honors than Guttin.
Regular-season champion and top-seeded Missouri State placed a league-high six players on the all-conference first team. The Bears first-team selections included Aaron Meyer (2B), Jake Burger (3B), Jeremy Eierman (SS), Blake Graham (DH), Doug Still (SP) and Jake Fromson (RP). Second place DBU placed four players on the first team, including Austin Listi (1B), Garrett Wolforth (C), Jameson Hannah (OF) and Seth Elledge (RP). Wichita State had two first-team selections in Alec Bohm (3B) and Zach Lewis (SP), while Evansville's Connor Strain (SP), Indiana State's Tony Rosselli (OF) and Southern Illinois' Greg Lambert (OF) round out the list of first-team accolades.
Featured on the second team are three Bears, including Hunter Steinmetz (OF), Jordan Knutson (SP) and Bryan Young (RP), three Patriots in Tim Millard (3B), Camden Duzenack (SS) and Devlin Granberg (OF) and three Sycamores in Dane Giesler (DH), Will Kincanon (SP) and Austin Conway (RP). Two Aces, including Trey Hair (2B) and Travis Tokarek (C) and two Salukis, in Ryan Smith (OF) and Chad Whitmer (SP) are also featured on the second team. Illinois State's Owen Miller (SS) and Wichita State's Greyson Jenista (1B) round out the members of the 2017 second team.
An additional 12 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 10-member all-defensive team was also named for the sixth-straight season.
All-conference honors and specialty awards are voted on by the league’s eight head baseball coaches.
