ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- Missouri State third baseman Brayden Drake and Bears’ ace Buddy Baumann highlight the 2009 MVC all-conference baseball teams, being tabbed Player and Pitcher of the Year, respectively, after leading the Bears to a MVC regular-season crown and this week’s tournament No. 1 seed.  Drake is Missouri State’s first Joe Carter Player of the Year since 1999.  Baumann, owner of the league’s best overall record (10-1), is the conference leader in batters struck out and is the fourth Missouri State hurler to take home Pitcher of the Year honors.  UNI outfielder Travis Bennett was named Newcomer of the Year and Bear’s freshman second baseman Kevin Medrano earned Freshman of the Year honors.  Coach of the Year honors will be announced Tuesday, May 19, at the State Farm MVC Baseball Tournament banquet.

Drake, a senior from Webb City, Mo., is the league leader in batting average (.418) and ranks second in RBI (52), total bases (123), slugging percentage (.695) and on base percentage (.493).  In MVC games, Drake leads the Bears in RBI and doubles, registering extra-base hits in 12 contests and recording 12 multi-hit games.  He also hit safely in 39 of 44 games in 2009 and owns the seventh-longest hitting streak in Valley history, with a hit in 30-straight contests.  Drake joins Bill Mueller, Steve Hacker and Matt Cepicky as the fourth Bear to earn Joe Carter Player of the Year honors.

Baumann, who hails from Rogersville, Mo., is the league leader in wins (10) and strikeouts (94) and has held opponents to a Valley-low .214 batting average.  Baumann fanned a league-high 14 batters in a 5-0 complete game victory over Oral Roberts (Mar. 29) and has struck out a Valley-leading 60 batters in his six conference wins.  He is 10-1 this season with a 3.40 ERA over 79.1 innings pitched and has been named one of 15 finalists for the College Baseball Foundation’s Pitcher of the Year.  Baumann is Missouri State’s fourth Pitcher of the Year (Rob Garola, Brad Ziegler and Tim Clubb).

Bennett made an immediate impact on the Panther lineup, hitting .315 in league games with a team-high 28 hits, 13 runs batted in and a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage.  Overall, he started all 48 UNI games and was the Panthers’ leading hitter (.338) with 67 hits, 43 RBI and a .490 slugging percentage.  Bennett delivered 18 multi-hit games and hit safely in 38 contests and is the first-ever Panther to earn the Valley’s Newcomer of the Year honor.

Medrano leads the Valley with 37 hits in league games and ranks in the top-10 in runs scored (25, 2nd), total plate appearances (113, 3rd), batting average (.374, 7th) and total bases (50, 8th).  He leads the Bears in runs, hits and at bats and has hit safely in 37 games this season.  Medrano is the fourth Missouri State player to be named Freshman of the Year (Ryan Howard, Bob Zimmerman and Brett Sinkbeil).

Regular-season champion Missouri State placed six players on the all-conference first team, in Kevin Medrano (2B), Brayden Drake (3B), Dallas Hord (C), Ben Carlson (OF), Buddy Baumann (SP) and Aaron Meade (SP).  Runner-up Indiana State slated four all-MVC first team members, including Ryan Strausborger (UT), Brady Shoemaker (OF), Nick Ciolli (OF) and Joe Rodriguez (SP).  Creighton and Southern Illinois each had two first-team members, with the Bluejays’ Elliot Soto (SS) and Jack VanLeur (RP) and the Salukis’ Tyler Bullock (DH) and Bryant George (RP) earned top honors.  Wichita State’s Clint McKeever (1B) rounds out the 2009 MVC first team all-conference list.

Thirteen of the 15 first team honorees are slated to return next season. 

Featured on the second team are three Sycamores, including Bronco Lafrenz (C), Jake Petricka (SP) and Matt Shelton (RP) and three Bluejays, in Darin Ruf (1B), Vicente Cafaro (2B) and Robbie Knight (OF).  Three UNI Panthers, including Brett Douglas (UT), Travis Bennett (UT) and Nick Kirk (SP), as well as three Evansville Purple Aces, in Cody Fick (3B), Andy Pascoe (DH) and Tom Heithoff (RP), also earned second-team honors.  Rounding out the members of the 2009 MVC second-team all conference are Tim Kelley (SP) of Wichita State, Collin Salzenstein of Illinois State and Bradley’s Nick Mitidiero.

An additional 17 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.

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

Joe Carter Player of the Year:
Brayden Drake, Missouri State

Pitcher of the Year:
Buddy Baumann, Missouri State

Newcomer of the Year:
Travis Bennett, UNI

Freshman of the Year:
Kevin Medrano, Missouri State