May 20, 2008

PADUCAH, Ky. - Samford junior short stop Michael Marseco was named the Ohio Valley Conference's Co-Player of the Year when the league released its postseason baseball awards at an awards banquet Tuesday evening.

Marseco shared the award with Jacksonville State outfielder Clay Whittemore. For the season, Marseco ranked second in the OVC in batting (.407 avg.), hits (88) and total bases (125). He is also tied the third in the league in triples with five.

Marseco, who was a Freshman All-American in 2006, was also named first-team All-OVC for the third year in a row.

During the season, Marseco set a Samford record with 88 hits, and he had a school-record 29-game hitting streak. His .407 batting average is the highest at Samford since baseball was re-instated in the early 1980s.

Three Samford players were named second-team All-OVC. Senior catcher Bear Burnett, senior designated hitter Michael Rutledge and junior starting pitcher Jonathan Stephens were all named second-team All-Conference. Also, freshman second baseman Michael Johnson was named to the league's All-Freshman team.

Burnett, who moved to catcher this season after playing the last three seasons in the outfield, batted .307 with a team-high seven home runs. He also ranked third on the team in RBI with 45, and he was tied for third on the squad in doubles with 12.

Burnett enters the OVC Tournament with 52 career doubles, tying the Samford career record in the category.

Rutledge, who transferred to Samford this season after three years at Mississippi State, was second on the team in batting with a .346 average. He leads the team in doubles with 14, and in RBI with 51.

Rutledge's RBI total of 51 ranks fifth in the OVC. He also ranks third in the league in RBI per game with an average of 1.04 per contest.

Stephens was the leader of the Samford pitching staff this season, posting a record of 7-0 with a 2.22 ERA. He only walked 13 batters in 81.0 innings of work.

Stephens ranks second in the OVC in individual pitching with his 2.22 ERA, second only to league Pitcher of the Year Christian Friedrich. He also ranks second in the league in innings pitched per game (6.75 pg.), and he is tied for second in shutouts (one). Stephens' seven wins ties him for third in the conference.

Johnson ranked fourth on the team in hitting with a .326 batting average. He posted 10 doubles and 27 RBI on the season for the Bulldogs.

Samford, the No. 2 seed in the OVC Tournament, will play its first game Thursday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. at Brooks Stadium in Paducah, Ky. Samford will play the highest-seeded team of the winners from Wednesday's opening-day games. All Samford games in the double-elimination tournament can be heard locally on WVSU-FM 91.1, or worldwide on the internet at www.samford.edu/groups/wvsu/.

OVC POSTSEASON AWARDS
OVC Co-Player of the Year: Clay Whittemore, Jacksonville State
OVC Co-Player of the Year: Michael Marseco, Samford
OVC Pitcher of the Year: Christian Friedrich, Eastern Kentucky
OVC Rookie of the Year: Todd Cunningham, Jacksonville State
OVC Coach of the Year: Jim Case, Jacksonville State

ALL-OVC FIRST TEAM
POS., NAME, SCHOOL
C, Jim Klocke, Southeast Missouri
1B, Matt Wagner, Southeast Missouri
2B, Bert Smith, Jacksonville State
SS, Michael Marseco, Samford
3B, Tyler Farrar, Austin Peay
OF, Brett Nommensen, Eastern Illinois
OF, Clay Whittemore, Jacksonville State
OF, Tyrell Cummings, Southeast Missouri
DH, Wes Cunningham, Murray State
UTIL, Steven Leach, Jacksonville State
SP, Christian Friedrich, Eastern Kentucky
SP, Ben Tootle, Jacksonville State
RP, Alex Jones, Jacksonville State

ALL-OVC SECOND TEAM
POS., NAME, SCHOOL
C, Bear Burnett, Samford
1B, Matt Kole, Austin Peay
2B, Matt Mihoci, Tennessee Tech
SS, Thomas Nelson, Tennessee Tech
3B, Tyler Owen, Murray State
OF, Rafael Hill, Austin Peay
OF, Todd Cunningham, Jacksonville State
OF, Jake New, Tennessee Tech
DH, Brian Piazza, Jacksonville State
DH, Michael Rutledge, Samford
UTIL, Michael Bottoms, Morehead State
SP, Jonathan Stephens, Samford
SP, Brian Booth, Jacksonville State
RP, Daniel Tenholder, Austin Peay

ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM
POS., NAME, SCHOOL
C, Casey Branham, Morehead State
1B/P, Wes Patterson, UT Martin
INF, Greg Bachman, Austin Peay
2B, Michael Johnson, Samford
SS, Jake Sharrock, Jacksonville State
3B, Trenton Moses, Southeast Missouri
3B, Michael Fear, Morehead State
3B, Jayson Langfels, Eastern Kentucky
OF, Ryan Faidley, Eastern Kentucky
OF, Todd Cunningham, Jacksonville State
DH/P, A.J. Kirby-Jones, Tennessee Tech
RHP, Josh Mueller, Eastern Illinois
RHP, Jordan Beistline, Jacksonville State