WAYNE, Neb. - Southwest Minnesota State University baseball players Derek West and Andrew Kinney have been named to the 2009 American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) All-Central Region first team as voted upon by the region's baseball head coaches.  Both players will now advance to the national ballot for a chance at All-America honors.

It's the third postseason honor for both players this season.  Two weeks ago both were named first team All-Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, while last week the duo were named first team Daktronics All-Region. 

The two individuals are just the seventh and eighth Mustang players in school history to earn first team ABCA All-Region honors.

West, a senior outfielder from Chamberlain, S.D., finished the season leading the Mustangs with a .417 batting average, while ranking third in home runs (9), RBI (41), hits (60) and total bases (101).  His .417 batting average ranks as the sixth highest in one season in school history.  He also had eight doubles, three triples, eight stolen bases and tied for the team-lead with 19 bases on balls.  West finished the season ranking third on the team with 19 multi-hit games and third in multi-RBI games with 14.
 
West finished his career at SMSU ranking high in the school record book including fourth in batting average (.374), ninth in slugging pct. (.596), ninth in on-base pct. (.460) and tied for 15th in home runs (16).

Kinney, a junior first baseman from Coon Rapids, Minn., led SMSU with 17 home runs, tying the school record for a single-season.  He also led the squad in both slugging pct. (.803) and RBI (55) and ranked second in runs scored (52).  Kinney finished third on the team with a .408 batting average and also added seven doubles, two triples and five stolen bases.  He led the team in multi-hit games with 22 and also led in multi-RBI games with 15.

Kinney will enter his senior season in 2010 ranking near the top in several categories in the school record book.  He is second in slugging pct. (.699), third in home runs (33), seventh in RBI (133), 10th in batting average (.365) and 12th in total bases (.274).

Southwest Minnesota State finished the 2009 season with an overall record of 28-15 and made its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Central Region Tournament.  The Mustangs finished fourth at the six-team regional tournament in Grand Junction, Colo., with a record of 1-2.

SMSU, located in Marshall, Minn., is a member of NCAA Division II and competes in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.