SIOUX FALLS, SD – With the Wayne State College baseball team earning a rematch with Augustana during the first round of the NSIC Baseball Tournament, All-Conference teams were announced Tuesday evening.
Freshman second basemen Andrew Hanson was named to the 2018 All-Conference First Team while both junior outfielder Travis Miller and sophomore designated hitter Bryce Bisenius earned All-Conference Second Team honors.
Hanson, a 6-1, 180-pound freshman from Burnsville, Minnesota (Burnsville HS), earned First Team All-NSIC honors at second base after recording a .321 average this season with seven homers and 27 RBI. He tied for the team lead in doubles (10) and was second in run scored with 30 and his .567 slugging percentage ranked 10th in the NSIC this season. In 33 NSIC games this season, Hanson produced a .319 average with six homers and 24 RBI with an on-base percentage of .402 and a slugging percentage of .543.
Miller, a 5-11, 185 pound junior from Cumberland, Wisconsin (Ellsworth CC), was a Second Team All-NSIC selection as an outfielder following a .351 average with seven homers and 36 RBI. He led the Wildcats in hits (52) and ranked second in at bats (148), homers (7), total bases (90) and RBI and tied for fourth in the NSIC in triples (4), fifth in slugging percentage (.608) and tied for eighth in total bases (90). Miller had a 15-game hitting streak from April 7th through April 29th that was the second-longest on the team this season. Miller was one of only two players (Tanner Simons) to start all 34 NSIC games for WSC this season and hit .365 in league play with five homers and 29 RBI.
Bisenius, a 6-1, 215 pound sophomore from Des Moines, Iowa (Dowling Catholic HS), led WSC this season with a .391 batting average starting 36 of 39 games played as designated hitter. He finished with a team-high 38 runs batted in this season, which tied for eighth in the NSIC, and his .441 on-base percentage was ninth-best in the league. Bisenius ranked third on the team in hits (50) and was fourth in runs scored with 24 while tied for the team lead in multi-RBI games with 10. In 31 NSIC games this season, Bisenius hit an even .400 with two homers and 33 RBI.
The 20-24 Wildcat baseball team ended the NSIC regular season at 18-16 to earn the #7 seed. WSC will battle #2 (40-8/26-8 NSIC) Augustana who is tabbed 11th in NCAA Division II. Both Augie and the ‘Cats went 2-2 this past weekend with Augustana winning 12-3 and 9-1 on Friday, May 4 and Wayne State College winning 9-5 and 11-8 (10 innings) on Saturday, May 5 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
The 2018 NSIC Baseball Tournament will open at Noon with #1 Minot State vs. #8 Northern State from Karras Park and 12:30 p.m. between #4 Minnesota State-Mankato vs. #5 Concordia-St. Paul from SF Stadium. Night games will open at 6 p.m. between #2 Augustana vs. #7 Wayne State College from Karras Park and 6:30 p.m. featuring #3 St. Cloud State vs. #6 Winona State from SF Stadium.
NSIC Player of the Year: Junior first baseman Reed Hjelle from Minnesota Crookston
Pitcher of the Year: junior RHP Gus Varland from Concordia-St. Paul
Freshman of the Year: freshman infielder Jordan Barth from Augustana
Newcome of the Year: junior first baseman Darrel Doll from Minot State
Coach of the Year: second year head coach Scott Eul from Minot State
