SLIAC Represented On All-Region Teams
The St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference was well-represented on the 2018 D3baseball.com and 2018 ABCA/Rawlings All-Region Teams with a total of 20 honorees including Spalding University's Jimi Keating who was named the Central Region Pitcher of the Year.
Keating, a senior, picked up First-Team honors from both organizations. He was named 2018 SLIAC Co-Pitcher of the Year after going 9-1 this season with a 2.38 earned-run average and 107 strikeouts in 79.1 innings pitched. Despite missing nearly two weeks he still managed to lead the conference in strikeouts and shutouts while finishing second in wins. He averaged 12.14 strikeouts per game, 17th best in NCAA Division III. This marks the third straight season that a SLIAC pitcher has taken home ABCA Pitcher of the Year honors; as Keating follows Webster hurlers Jack Bensinger and Josh Fleming.
Joining Keating as dual First-Team honorees are Clay Kelly and Garrett Wilson. Kelly, a second baseman, hit .376 with six home runs and a conference-leading 52 runs batted in this year. He finished with a .448 on-base percentage while slugging .564 and added 62 hits including 11 doubles with 37 runs scored. Wilson, an outfielder, was the SLIAC Player of the Year after hitting .470, the 6th highest mark in Division III while leading the conference in runs scored (67), hits (86), triples (8), and stolen bases (32). He leads Division III in hits and ranks 3rd in runs and triples and is 9th in stolen bases.
Webster University tied with Spalding University for most honorees among SLIAC schools with three. First baseman Kyler Kent, sophomore pitcher Matt Mulhearn, and sophomore Shane Donovan each picked up All-Region honors this spring. Kent, from Pottsboro, Texas, was named to the First-Team on both lists after hitting .428 this year. On the season, Kent recorded a single-season school record 83 hits and also scored 44 runs, hit 17 doubles and led the Gorloks in both home runs (6) and RBI (46) and struck just 15 times in 194 at-bats. Shane Donovan was named a First-Team selection by D3baseball.com and a Second-Team honoree by ABCA/Rawlings. Donovan, from Bartlett, Ill., posted a team-best 1.72 ERA and a 6-1 record and also recording a Webster single-season school record eight saves. On the year, Donovan made 25 appearances, which was second most in a single season in school history and in those 25 appearances, he threw 62.2 innings and allowed 49 hits, 13 runs (12 earned runs) while walking 14 and striking out 33. Mulhearn, from Chicago Heights, Ill., was selected as a First-Team All-Region performer by ABCA/Rawlings and Second-Team All-Region by D3baseball.com. Mulhearn posted a 10-2 record and a 2.99 ERA. On the season, Mulhearn made 14 appearances, including tying for the team lead in starts with 13 and in a team-leading 84.1 innings of work, the right-hander allowed 78 hits, 30 runs (28 earned runs) while walking 14 and striking out a team-best 76.
Fontbonne University had two players receive honors; Michael Golich and Luke Summers. They were named Second Team All-Region by both baseball organizations. Golich, an Aurora, Illinois, native, picked up All-Region honors for the second straight year. The senior infielder had a career-season for the Griffins with his team-high .412 average with 61 hits, 39 runs scored, seven doubles, two triples, and 16 RBI. Summers, meanwhile, picks up the honor for the first time in his career as a starting pitcher. The hurler was one of the top pitchers in the SLIAC after going 7-3 in 77.0 innings of work while striking out a career-high 83 hitters, setting a single-season school record, and owning a career-best 2.10 ERA. Summers was also named the SLIAC Co-Pitcher of the Year.
Westminster College's Ryan Clavin and Blake Strebler received All-Region honors as well. Clavin was named First-Team All-Region by the ABCA and Second-Team by D3baseball.com after being named the SLIAC Newcomer of the Year. He appeared in 33 games and recorded a .336 batting average. He led the Blue Jays in home runs this season with eight, which was also tied for first in the SLIAC, and was second on the team in hits (41) and RBI (34). He also appeared in 12 games as a pitcher, starting in four, and pitching his way to a record of 5-3. Of his four starts, two of them were complete games. Strebler earned a spot on the D3baseball.com Third-Team, hitting .364 with five home runs and 22 runs batted in. Strebler was second in the conference in slugging percentage while leading the Blue Jays at .648. His on-base percentage of .476 also led the Blue Jays and placed him fourth in the SLIAC.
The final representative from the SLIAC is Tyler Durand. Durand, a senior from Blackburn College picked up Second-Team All-Region honors as a utility player by ABCA/Rawlings. Durand hit .336 with five home runs and 27 runs batted in at the plate while also making eight starts on the mound and finishing with two wins in 49.1 innings pitched with 35 strikeouts.
