June 4, 2019

Indiana State Places Five Individuals on MVC Baseball Scholar-Athlete Team

By Tim McCaughan

Indiana State Athletics

ST. LOUIS -- Five members of the Indiana State baseball team were named to the 2019 Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete Teams, which were announced today by the league office. The scholar-athlete teams were voted on by the conference’s baseball sports information contacts and announced by the league office today.

MVC Newcomer of the Year Collin Liberatore earned First Team honors from the MVC. Liberatore earned his first All-MVC nod after pacing the Valley with a 10-2 record in 16 starts. The junior right-hander posted five or more strikeouts in eight games this season while logging seven or more innings in seven starts. The Greensburg, Pennsylvania native was 4-0 with a 1.10 ERA and one complete game in the month of April. He allowed just four earned runs over four starts while holding opponents to a .147 average against. Liberatore posted a 3.51 GPA in communications.

Tyler Grauer, Jake Means, Tyler Ward and Max Wright (Toronto, Ont.) earned Scholar-Athlete Honorable Mention accolades for their performances in the classroom and on the field. It marks the second consecutive season that Tyler Ward has earned Scholar-Athlete honors for the Sycamores.

Grauer holds a 3.49 GPA in sports management while appearing in 22 games out of the bullpen for the Sycamores, racking up 48 strikeouts to just eight walks in 37 2/3 innings on the mound. The southpaw finished the regular season with a 1.91 ERA and a team-best nine saves. In total, Grauer allowed just eight earned runs and held opponents to just 13 extra-base hits en route to a 2-3 mark.

Jake Means is coming off a superb senior campaign in which he was named the League’s Defensive Player of the Year to go along with honorable mention honors at third base. A general studies major with a 3.46 GPA, Means finished the season with a .286 batting average and led ISU with 42 RBIs and 17 hit-by-pitch. He was second on team with a .417 on-base percentage and 33 walks. A Gardner, Kansas product, Means assisted on 127 outs and recorded 49 putouts for a .972 fielding percentage. Means was also a part of nine double plays turned for the Sycamores.

Tyler Ward saw action in 21 games out of the bullpen his senior season to go with one start during the MVC Tournament. He finished with a 6-3 record and a 4.07 ERA. The right-hander tossed 55.1 innings and allowed just 25 earned runs while striking out 40 and walking 16. He is second on the team with five saves and fourth in wins. In April, Ward saw action in six games, with a 0.51 ERA and a 4-1 record. Opponents scored just one earned run against Ward in 17.2 innings. He also went at least six innings in 11 starts. In the classroom, Ward holds a 3.55 GPA in athletic training.

Junior catcher Max Wright (Toronto, Ont.) earned honorable mention after starting 57 of Indiana State’s 61 games in 2019 while batting .296 to go along with four home runs and 36 RBIs. A Toronto, Ontario native, Wright ranks among the conference leaders in slugging percentage (.394), hits (60) and hit-by-pitch (13). In the classroom, Wright holds a 3.70 grade point average in criminology and criminal justice. In May, Wright became the first Sycamore to receive CoSIDA Academic All-District recognition since Koby Kraemer in 2011.

It marks the most academic honors by an Indiana State baseball team since 2012 when the Sycamores had five members recognized.

Five of the 15 first team spots are held by graduating seniors, while nine juniors and one sophomore complete the makeup of the squad.

Six league schools are represented on the first team, with an additional 12 student-athletes named to the honorable mention team. A total of 49 student-athletes were nominated for scholar-athlete honors.

The criteria for the Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete Team voting parallels the CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America) standards for Google Cloud Academic All-America voting. Nominees must be starters or important reserves, with at least a 3.20 cumulative grade point average. Student-athletes must have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at their institution and must have completed at least one full academic year at their institution.