Beeker and Hallquist Voted All-Region by the ABCA

ABCA Press Release

Junior left-handed pitcher Merritt Beeker has been named First Team All-Region by the ABCA, while senior shortstop Michael Hallquist landed on the organization's Second Team, the American Baseball Coaches Association announced Tuesday.

The duo were Mid-American Conference specialty award winners with Beeker being voted the MAC Pitcher of the Year and Hallquist the MAC Defensive Player of the Year. The All-Region teams were voted on by members of the ABCA, and the complete list of teams can be found at the link above.

Beeker posted the third-most strikeouts in a season (128) in program history along with a 9-3 record and 4.11 ERA on his way to First Team All-MAC and Pitcher of the Year honors in his first season with the Cardinals after transferring from East Carolina. The lefty led the league and ranks in the Top 10 in NCAA Division I with the season strikeouts (seventh) and strikeouts per nine innings (14.22, sixth).

Beeker is the fourth Ball State pitcher to be named First Team All-Region by the ABCA joining Tyler Schweitzer in 2022, John Baker in 2021 and Drey Jameson in 2019.

Hallquist tied for the second-most home runs in a season in program history with 21 while playing sterling defense at shortstop to be named First Team All-MAC and Defensive Player of the Year and, more recently, a finalist for the Brooks Wallace Award given to the nation's top shortstop. The Fargo, N.D., native led the team in batting average (.331), doubles (18), homers, RBI (56), runs scored (58), OPS (1.070), slugging (.674) and total bases (163).

The winner of the Brooks Wallace Award is scheduled to be announced next Wednesday, June 19.

NCAA Div. I Midwest All-Region First Team
Pos.	Player	Cl.	School	State
C	Camden Janik	Jr.	Illinois	IL
1B	Roman Kuntz	Sr.	Morehead State	KY
2B	Emilien Pitre	Jr.	Kentucky	KY
3B	Mike Sears	Sr.	Indiana State	IN
SS	Lucas Loos	Sr.	Eastern Illinois	IL
OF	Mark Shallenberger	Gr.	Evansville	IN
OF	Kendal Ewell	Gr.	Illinois-Chicago	IL
OF	Devin Taylor	So.	Indiana	IN
DH	Kip Fougerousse	Sr.	Evansville	IN
P	Merritt Beeker	Jr.	Ball State	IN
P	Brody Brecht	Jr.	Iowa	IA
P	Connor Wietgrefe	Jr.	Minnesota	MN
RP	Mason Burns	Sr.	Western Kentucky	KY

NCAA Div. I Midwest All-Region Second Team
Pos.	Player	Cl.	School	State
C	Brandon Heidal	Sr.	Oakland	MI
1B	Luis Hernandez	Jr.	Indiana State	IN
1B	Liam McFadden-Ackman	Sr.	Northern Kentucky	KY
2B	Steven Loden	Sr.	Southern Illinois	IL
3B	Raider Tello	Jr.	Iowa	IA
SS	Michael Hallquist	Sr.	Ball State	IN
SS	Randal Diaz	Jr.	Indiana State	IN
OF	Ryan Waldschmidt	Jr.	Kentucky	KY
OF	Ryley Preece	Sr.	Morehead State	KY
OF	Treyvin Moss	Gr.	Northern Kentucky	KY
DH	CJ Richmond	Jr.	Western Michigan	MI
P	Kenton Deverman	Fr.	Evansville	IN
P	Brennyn Cutts	Jr.	Indiana State	IN
P	Luke Helton	Gr.	Morehead State	KY
P	Brandon Decker	Sr.	Oakland	MI
RP	Reece Lawler	Jr.	Illinois-Chicago	IL
RP	Zach Davidson	Sr.	Indiana State	IN

Players Mentioned

Merritt Beeker

Michael Hallquist

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