Clarksville, Ark.-Ten University of the Ozarks baseball players received American Southwest Conference East Division All-Conference honors as voted on by the league's seven division head coaches, the ASC office announced on Monday.
Sophomore shortstop Cory Briggs, sophomore catcher Scott Dietz, senior designated hitter Robby Finnell and junior center fielder Bruce Cameron all received ASC East Division First Team. Senior first baseman Robert Mummey, sophomore third baseman Brad Broussard, junior pitcher John Scheuring and Cameron (utility player) made East Division Second Team. Junior right fielder David Smith, senior pitcher Curt Dixon, junior pitcher Todd Koch and Cameron (pitcher) made the East Division Honorable Mention Team.
Briggs, a 6-foot, 200-pound native of Greencastle, Pa., was among the top offensive players in the league all season and won the regular season league batting title with a .478 average. Briggs currently ranks in the top ten in the ASC in eight different offensive categories, including second in hits (79), third in doubles (19), fourth in on-base percentage (.513), fifth in runs (56), sixth in RBI (54) and total bases (124), and seventh in slugging percentage (.734). He finished first or second on the team in eight offensive categories. His average (.467), hit, total bases and doubles totals are new single-season school records. Briggs hit safely in 40 of 42 games this season, with a team-best 26 multiple-hit games. He had 15 multiple-RBI games, most on the team. He currently owns a 18-game hit streak. Briggs top performance at the plate this season came against Mississippi College when he went 5-for-6 with a homer and 6 RBI. He was named ASC Hitter of the Week once this year. He was Honorable Mention All-Conference last season.
Dietz, a 6-foot-4, 190-pound native of Rowlett, Texas, hit .320 with 24 RBI in 37 games. He had a .983 fielding average behind the plate. He collected 39 hits and compiled 63 total bases, including 13 doubles, third-best on the team. Dietz best game came of the season came against LeTourneau University when he hit a walk-off grand slam to lift the Eagles to a 8-4 win. He had 4 RBI against LeTourneau and Concordia University Texas.
Finnell, a 6-foot-1, 210-pound native of Tulsa, Okla., became the school career leader in a number of offensive categories with another productive season. Currently, he ranks fourth in the ASC in RBI (56) and slugging percentage (.784), fifth in home runs (13) and tenth in total bases (109) and on-base percentage (.486). He led the team in RBI (56) for the second straight season. He was second on the team in slugging percentage, home runs and third in total bases and fourth in on-base percentage. His 56 RBI broke his own single-season school record from a year ago. He had 15 multiple-RBI games. Finnell went 4-for-5 with a homer, three doubles and 7 RBI against East Texas Baptist in game three of the series. For his career, he is the school leader in home runs (31), RBI (159), games played (162), runs (131), hits (189), doubles (31), triples (8), total bases (329), walks (73) and hit by pitch (42). He owns a .348 career batting average, tenth-best at Ozarks and a .606 career slugging percentage, fourth-best at Ozarks. This marks the third straight season he has earned All-Conference honors. He was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America team in 2006 and 2007.
Cameron, a 6-foot, 175-pound native of Houston, Texas, earned the All-Conference nod at three different positions. Cameron was the most versatile player in the league, ranking in the top ten in both hitting and pitching at the end of the regular season. He is ninth in the ASC in batting (.410) and sixth in ERA (3.35). At the plate, he is second in slugging percentage (.827), third in home runs (14), sixth in on-base percentage (.500), eighth in total bases (115) and tenth in RBI (49). He had three, four-RBI games and five, three-hit games. He was 3-for-4 with three homers and 4 RBI against Lyon College. On the mound, he finished with a 5-1 record in 48.1 innings of work. He ended the season with 29 strikeouts. Against LeTourneau, he pitched a five-hit complete game. He was twice named ASC Hitter of the Week. He was Honorable Mention All-Conference last season.
Mummey, a 6-foot-2, 205-pound native of Flower Mound, Texas, ranked third on the team in homers (12) and fourth in RBI (46). Mummey’s .585 slugging percentage placed him fifth on the team and his 76 total bases placed him sixth. His steady glove at first produced a .978 fielding percentage. He finished with six, 3-RBI games. Mummey smashed two homers and went 3-for-5 with 5 RBI against Williams Baptist.
Broussard, a 5-foot-10, 180-pound native of Seguin, Texas, hit .371 with 37 RBI and 11 doubles. He totaled 52 hits, fourth-most on the team. He had 12 games with 2 or more RBI. He is the first player at Ozarks to be awarded the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association National Hitter of the Week. He was also named ASC Player of the Week. Broussard’s top performance of the season came against East Texas Baptist when he went 2-for-4 with a homer and 4 RBI.
Scheuring, a 6-foot, 165-pound native of Bryan, Texas, earns the conference nod for the second season in a row. The lefty led the team in appearances with 17. He posted a 4.37 ERA in 22.2 innings of work. He fanned 25 and recorded three saves. He tossed two hitless innings in relief on two different occasions, including a four-strikeout performance against East Texas Baptist. He now has eight career saves. He was All-East Division First Team a year ago.
Smith, a 5-foot-8, 160-pound native of Rowlett, Texas, led the team in steals (19) and sacrifice hits (10) and led all outfielders in fielding percentage (1.000). He is tenth in the league in batting (.401) and doubles (15). His 19 steals place him third in the ASC. Smith had three, four-hit performances during the season. Smith’s best outing at the plate came against Hendrix when he went 4-for-5 with 3 RBI and 4 runs. He was Honorable Mention All-Conference last season.
Dixon, a 6-foot-5, 215-pound native of McAlester, Okla., ranks fourth in the ASC in ERA (2.92), wins (9) and complete games (5). He had a team-best 74 strikeouts and tossed a team-high 71.0 innings. He finished with a school-record 9-1 record on the mound. The right-hander garnered national attention this season when he was named along with a pair of NCAA I players the Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week after fanning 14 against East Texas Baptist. He was also named ASC Pitcher of the Week during the year. He tossed a two-hit shutout against Texas-Dallas. He owns career records at Ozarks in strikeouts (205), innings pitched (256.2), wins (24) and games started (46).
Koch, a 6-foot-3, 225-pound native of San Antonio, Texas, ranked second on the team in strikeouts (64) and innings pitched (69.0). The right-hander finished with a 6-3 record on the mound in 11 starts. Koch held opponents to a .242 average, sixth-best in the ASC. Koch tossed seven innings, allowed just three hits and fanned 9 against Mary Hardin-Baylor. Koch also hit .413 and drove in 17 in 63 at-bats.
The Eagles finished the 2008 season with a program-best 32-11 overall record. For the second straight season, Ozarks made the ASC playoffs.
Topics: Athletics