SHAWNEE – The National College Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) released its Central All-Region Team on Thursday afternoon and
Kade Self,
Alex Schroeder and
Dan Pruitt were recognized.
Self and Schroeder made the first team while Pruitt landed on the second team. It marks the first time that OBU has placed two on the NCBWA's top team.
Selected as the region's first-team designated hitter, Self had one of the most potent bats for the Bison. He notched a team-high .397 average, a mark that was third in the GAC and tallied 13 homers. His home run total was a top-ten mark in the conference. The native of Shawnee also scored 39 runs, drove in 47 and tied for the team lead with 15 doubles.
At catcher was Schroeder. He finished his first season on Bison Hill ranked second in the GAC in homers (21) and RBI (64) – behind only Pruitt - while also boasting top-six marks in total bases (127), sacrifice flies (6) and slugging percentage (.718). Schroeder also helped boost the OBU defense with a .996 fielding mark and 232 putouts, second-most on the roster.
For Pruitt, who started all 49 games at first base, he had a year to remember in the batter's box. He tied the school's single-season home run record (24), notched a .909 slugging mark, the highest total by a Bison player in the D2 era, and attained 73 hits with a .390 average.
Throughout the season, he consistently ranked in the top-ten in the country in homers, slugging and total bases. By season's end, Pruitt posted top-four marks in home runs and slugging while also being slotted in the top-18 in D2 in runs scored (70) and runs batted in (68).
