Mules have eight earn All-MIAA recognition

The Central Missouri State Mules, fresh off their seventh consecutive MIAA Tournament title, landed eight to the All-MIAA baseball team on Monday as selected by the conference's coaches.

The Mules (44-14), who moved up to eighth in this week's poll, had the MIAA Player of the Year in junior third baseman Bridger Hunt, and the conference Freshman of the Year in pitcher Brandon Morris. It marks the fourth consecutive season that the Mules have had both the player and freshman of the year.

Hunt, who tops the conference in hits (91) and triples (10), also leads the Mules in nearly every offensive category. He is hitting .414 with 69 RBI and 62 runs scored for CMSU. Hunt also moved up to second for triples in a season at Central Missouri.

Morris, who is also a second-team selection, leads the Mules with a 9-0 record and tops the MIAA in ERA at 2.20. He has the CMSU record for wins by a freshman as well.

Joining Hunt on the first-team are junior second baseman Gered Mochizuki and senior right fielder Adam Milauskas.

Mochizuki, the Mules leadoff hitter, is second on the team in batting average at .390 and co-leads the team in walks with 36. He gets on base 47.7 percent of the time and ranks second on the squad with 85 hits.

Milauskas leads CMSU with 15 home runs and now ranks sixth for a single season and 10^th for a career (24) at Central Missouri. He has hit .491 in the month of May, including seven home runs in the past two weeks.

Joining Morris on the second team was junior starting pitcher Judson Smith. He is 8-2 with a 3.04 ERA and 65 strikeouts this season. Ranked second on the team in wins, Smith has two complete-game performances including a nine-frame outing against Missouri Western in the first round of the MIAA Tournament.

Also earning recognition for CMSU are the three honorable mention All-MIAA selections. Junior lefthander Owen Williams and senior catcher David Baker made their debuts on the team in their first years of MIAA play while first baseman Tim VanMatre made his second appearance as he was a unanimous first-team selection last year.