Ball State University Athletics
Morrison MAC Pitcher of the Year, Snyder MAC Freshman of the Year
May 25, 2005 | Baseball
Miami, the East Division and MAC Champion with a 17-4 league record and an overall mark of 39-15, placed a league-high eight players on the all-MAC team, six of them on the second team. The RedHawks were one of three teams to have four or more players garner all-conference honors. West Division champion Ball State had four first-team honorees and five total, while Central Michigan had two first- and two second-team all-MAC mentions. Bowling Green had three selections, while Akron, Kent State, Ohio and Western Michigan had two players each. Ten of the MAC's 13 schools had at least one player named to the all-conference team, including Buffalo, which placed its first player on the team.
After garnering first-team all-MAC status last season as a sophomore, BGSU's Reimold paced the league during the regular season with 20 home runs, 60 RBIs, a .791 slugging percentage, a .498 on-base percentage and with 136 total bases. He is second on the team and in the conference with a .366 batting average and was named MAC West Division Player of the Week a league-high four times this season. The second Falcon to garner the league's Player of the Year honor (1B Kelly Hunt in 2002 was the other), the outfielder enters the tournament on a nine-game hitting streak and has hit a homer in five of his last six games. Reimold, a native of Greenville, Pa., is also third in the league in runs scored with 51 and walks with 38, including nine intentional.
The second Cardinal to capture the Pitcher of the Year award (Bryan Bullington won the award in 2001 and 2002), Morrison equaled the league's single season save record with 15 during the regular season. In addition to the save total, the senior posted a 6-0 record with a 1.16 ERA. In 38.2 innings, Morrison surrendered only five earned runs on 25 hits and struck out 38. Opposing hitters hit only .182 off the native of Hanover, Ind. In conference-only games, Morrison was 4-0 with six saves to go with a 0.93 ERA.
The fourth Ball State player to be named the MAC Freshman of the Year, three of them pitchers, Snyder, from Bellevue, Ohio, helped the Cardinals to the school's sixth West Division title. Snyder posted an 8-4 overall record and a 3.81 ERA in 14 appearances and 13 starts. The left-handed pitcher notched a 7-0 record with a 2.82 ERA in conference games and limited opposing hitters to a .220 batting average, the fourth lowest in the league. Twice tabbed West Division Pitcher of the Week, Snyder struck out 14 in a game against Oakland on Mar. 19, then fanned 11 Eastern Michigan hitters on April 30.
For the first time in his career, Miami's Smith was tabbed as the league's Coach of the Year. In his ninth season as skipper of the RedHawk program, Smith guided the RedHawks to their first MAC regular season title since 1983 as well as the program's second straight East Division crown. Miami notched a 17-4 record in conference play and a 39-15 overall mark heading into the conference tournament.
Joining Reimold, Morrison and Snyder on the first team were Ball State's Kyle Dygert (Jr., 2B) and Mike Sullivan (Jr., OF), Bowling Green's Andy Hudak (Sr., 1B) and Alan Brech (So,, P), Central Michigan's Jim Geldhof (Sr., OF) and Ty Dunham (Jr., P), Miami's Brian Canada (Sr., 3B) and Keith Weiser (So., P), Ohio's Ben Crabtree (Sr., C) and Anthony Gressick (Jr., UT), Western Michigan's Adam Rosales (Sr., SS) and Justin Carter (Sr., DH), Akron's Doug Kruthaupt (Sr., SS) and Northern Illinois' Jeremy Busch (Sr., OF).
Six schools were represented on the second-team, led by Miami's six selections. Named to the team from the RedHawks were Paul Frietch (Sr., 1B), Geoff Orr (Jr., 2B), John Slone (Sr., C), Ryne Robinson (So., OF), John Ely (Fr., P) and Graham Taylor (Jr., P). The Chippewas had two garner second-team accolades in Troy Moratti (Jr., 3B) and Josh Collmenter (Fr., P), while Kent State also had two selections in Joe Tucker (Jr., OF) and Kurt Eichorn (Jr., DH). Also copping second-team honors were Akron's Darek Stanfield (Sr., RP), Ball State's Joe Ness (Jr., P) and Buffalo's Mike Folli (Fr., UT).
