Complete Release
Daktronics Release
PUEBLO, Colo. - Three Southwest Minnesota State University baseball players have been named to the 2009 Daktronics All-Central Region team as voted upon by the region's sports information directors. Senior outfielder Derek West and first baseman Andrew Kinney were both named first team, while junior right-handed pitcher Adam Schrader was named second team.
It's the first time SMSU has had three players earn all-region honors in one season since 2005. West and Kinney will now move to the national ballot for a chance to earn All-America accolades.
West, a native of Chamberlain, S.D., is batting a team-high .446 this season with eight home runs, eight doubles, three triples and 38 RBI. A 2009 All-Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference honoree, West leads the team with 58 base hits and ranks second with eight stolen bases.
Kinney, a native of Coon Rapids, Minn., was also named first team All-NSIC this season leading the NSIC?with 11 home runs in conference play. Overall, he leads the squad with 15 home runs and is tied for the team lead with 48 RBI. Kinney ranks second on the team with a .404 batting average, ranks second in base hits with 57 and is second in runs scored with 45.
Schrader, a native of Easton, Minn., is 5-1 this season with a team-low 4.00 earned run average in 54 innings pitched. He has appeared in 10 games with nine starts tossing three complete games while striking out a team-high 63 batters. In his last start on May 7 at the NSIC?Tournament, he struck out a school record 15 batters in a victory over Winona State.
SMSU, 27-13 overall, continues post season play on Thursday, May 14, at the NCAA Division II?Central Region Tournament in Grand Junction, Colo. SMSU, the tournament's No. 5 seed, will face No. 2 seed Minnesota State, Mankato on Thursday afternoon starting at 3:30 p.m. MDT.??It is SMSU's first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
Southwest Minnesota State, located in Marshall, Minn., is a member of NCAA?Division II?and competes in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.
