Lions baseball lands 5 players on All-Region teams
May 17—Missouri Southern senior pitcher Cole Woods was named All-Region Pitcher of the Year by the National College Baseball Writers Association on Wednesday. Four other Lions were also named to NCBWA All-Region teams.
Woods (10-3,) a senior from Claremore, Oklahoma, has a 3.44 ERA and 1.08 WHIP in 15 starts for MSSU. He has struck out 101 batters in 91.2 innings of work, while walking just 22.
His opposition is hitting just .229 against him. So far this season, Woods has a 27.2% strikeout rate and a 5.9% walk rate. In 13 of Woods' 15 starts, he has gone at least five innings for the Lions and has eight quality starts.
Joining Woods as an NCBWA first-teamer in MSSU sophomore second baseman Nate Mieszkowski, of Grayslake, Illinois. He is hitting .383 this season and has set school records for at-bats (243) and hits (93.) Mieszkowski has 77 runs, 62 RBIs and 35 extra-base hits, including 18 doubles, four triples and 13 home runs.
Defensively, Mieszkowski has 130 assists, 89 putouts and has been a part of 30 double plays.
Webb City sophomore outfielder Treghan Parker was named to the NCBWA All-Region second team after hitting .312 with 66 runs and 58 RBIs. Parker has 59 hits, including 13 doubles, three triples and 16 home runs. He has 68 putouts and four assists this season.
Also on the second team for the Lions is Fox Lake, Illinois, junior shortstop Henry Kusiak. He is hitting .320 with 58 RBIs and has scored 60 runs. His 74 hits this season include 17 doubles and 13 home runs. He has 64 putouts, 142 assists and helped turn 28 double plays.
Willard junior Garrett Rice was an honorable mention as a designated hitter while hitting .338 with 61 runs, 67 hits, 14 doubles, 10 home runs and 42 RBIs.
MSSU will host its pod of the Central Regional, playing at 6 p.m. Thursday against Arkansas Tech. The two other teams in the pod — Minnesota State-Mankato and Southern Arkansas — play at 2 p.m. at Warren Turner Field.
