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ST. LOUIS, MO – Missouri State outfielder Spencer Nivens and Indiana State pitcher Connor Fenlong highlight the 2023 MVC all-conference baseball teams, being tabbed Joe Carter Player of the Year and Pitcher of the Year, respectively. Indiana State's Mitch Hannahs has been named the league's Dan Callahan Coach of the Year, after leading the Sycamores to a regular season title after being selected fourth in the preseason poll. Nivens is Missouri State's sixth Player of the Year, while Fenlong is the second Sycamore to be named Pitcher of the Year. UIC's Charlie Szykowny was named Newcomer of the Year and Missouri State rookie outfielder Zack Stewart earned Freshman of the Year honors. Indiana State catcher Grant Magill wraps up the specialty honors with the Defensive Player of the Year award.
Nivens, a redshirt sophomore outfielder from Columbia, Missouri, leads the MVC in slugging percentage (.681), while sitting among the top three in batting average (.357), runs (54), hits (76), triples (6) and stolen bases (6). He started every game in center field and has reached safely in 49 of 52 game this season. His six triples rank 10th nationally and are the most for a Missouri State player since 2016. His 35 total extra-base hits are the most for a Bear since both Jake Burger and Jeremy Eierman reached that total in 2017 Nivens is the sixth Bear to earn the Valley’s Joe Carter Player of the Year honor, joining Bill Mueller (1993), Steve Hacker (1995), Matt Cepicky (1999), Brayden Drake (2009) and Jake Burger (2017).
Fenlong, a product of Gouverneur, N.Y., finished the year as the Missouri Valley Conference leader in both wins (9) and innings pitched (92.0), while finishing fifth in ERA (3.52) and fourth in opponent batting average (.225). The redshirt senior took over a starting weekend role this season after two years as one of the top relievers in The Valley including earning First Team All-MVC honors in 2021 as Indiana State's primary closer. Fenlong is the second Sycamore to win the Valley's Pitcher of the Year honor, joining Geremy Guerrero (2021).
Szykowny, a transfer from Wisconsin-Stout, made an immediate impact offensively for the Flames this season. The graduate transfer third baseman hit .347 for the season and ranked among the top five in the MVC with 55 RBI and 16 home runs. He led the team in batting average, runs scored, hits, triples, home runs, RBI and slugging percentage in his first season in Chicago. Szykowny is the first Flame to win the Newcomer of the Year award as UIC completed its first year in the league.
Stewart, an outfielder who hails from Lebanon, Missouri, has been sensational in his Missouri State debut. The rookie is the MVC overall leader with 18 doubles and 58 RBI this season and trails only Ryan Howard’s RBI total of 66 in 1999 among true freshmen in Missouri State history. Among freshmen nationally, Stewart ranks 10th in RBI and sixth in doubles. Stewart becomes the 10th player in Missouri State history to be named MVC Freshman of the Year, joining a list that includes Ryan Howard (1999).
Magill, a catcher from Highlands Ranch, Colo., claimed the league's Defensive Player of the Year award. Magill tied for The Valley lead with 17 runners caught stealing, while adding four pickoffs on the year from the catcher position. MVC teams only attempted 11 stolen bases against the Sycamores in the 2023 campaign with Magill nabbing six of them. He is a two-time All-Defensive selection at catcher and headlines an ISU defense that sits second in the NCAA in team fielding defense at 0.984 in the 2023 season. Magill is the third player in Indiana State history to win the league's Defensive Player of the Year, joining Tyler Wampler (2014) and Jake Means (2019).
Hannahs, now in his 10th season as head coach of the Indiana State baseball squad, led the Sycamores to a first-place finish in the Missouri Valley Conference standings after being picked fourth in the preseason poll. This season, the Sycamores claimed an outright title for just the second time in program history and won the league's title by six games, marking the largest margin since 1998. The Sycamores entered the final week of the regular season ranked in five of the six major baseball polls, while sitting in the top 10 in the NCAA in RPI in four of the last five weeks. Hannahs joins Bob Warn, Lindsay Meggs and Rick Heller as the only other Indiana State skippers to win Coach of the Year honors.
Regular season champion Indiana State placed a league-high five players on the all-conference first team. The Sycamores first-team selections included Randal Diaz (SS), Grant Magill (C), Matt Jachec (SP), Connor Fenlong (SP) and Jared Spencer (RP). Second place Missouri State placed four players on the first team, including Cam Cratic (DH), Spencer Nivens (OF), Brandt Thompson (SP) and Garrett Ferguson (RP). Evansville has three first-team players with Chase Hug (1B), Kip Fougerousse (2B) and Eric Roberts (OF). UIC's Charlie Szykowny (3B), Murray State's Dustin Mercer (OF) and Valparaiso's Ryan Maka (OF) round out the list of first-team accolades.
Featured on the second team are four Salukis, including Steven Loden (2B), Cole Christman (C), Pier-Olivier Boucher (OF) and Jake Combs (SP) and three players from Belmont in Mason Landers (3B), Andy Bean (SP) and Ethan Harden (RP). Indiana State also placed three on the second team with Adam Pottinger (OF), Lane Miller (SP) and Cameron Holycross (RP). Murray State placed two on the second team with Brennan McCullough (1B) and Drew Vogel (SS). Bradley's Logan Delgado (DH), Evansville's Nate Hardman (RP) and Missouri State's Zack Stewart (OF) round out the members of the 2023 second team.
An additional 11 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.
All-conference honors and specialty awards are voted on by the league’s 10 head baseball coaches.
