Seven Ashland University baseball players were selected to the All-Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference teams as announced by the league office on Wednesday (May 9) night on the eve of the GLIAC Tournament in Detroit.
Sophomore designated hitter Carson Mittermaier earned first team honors to lead the AU contingency. Senior outfielder Connor Barleben, junior second baseman Matt Littrell, senior first baseman Greg Ludwig and junior starting pitcher Devin Peters were each second team selections.
Freshman infielder Austin Eifrid and sophomore starter Chance Hitchcock were selected to the honorable mention list.
Mittermaier ranks fourth in the GLIAC in batting average (.401) and is ninth in the league in RBI (44). He has reached base at a .486 clip and 18 of his 60 hits have gone for extra bases. Mittermaier has four homers and six stolen bases on the year.
Barleben leads the GLIAC in slugging percentage (.671), is ninth in the GLIAC in batting average (.360) and is tied for second in the league with 11 home runs. He is second in the conference in RBI (51) and is tied for fourth with 15 doubles. Of his 58 hits, 27 have gone for extra bases. He hit three home runs in a game against West Liberty earlier this season and hit a walk-off home run last week against Tiffin. He earned GLIAC Player of the Week honors on April 9.
Littrell ranks 10th in the GLIAC in hitting with a .356 batting average while also reaching base at a .464 clip – a mark that ranks seventh. He has four homers, including a walk-off blast against Saginaw Valley State, and 27 RBI. Littrell has drawn a team-high 24 walks.
Ludwig has been a stable force in the middle of the AU lineup, hitting .340 on the season with four homers and 36 RBI. He has also racked up 13 doubles and has a .980 fielding percentage, playing mostly at first base.
Peters is the GLIAC leader in innings pitched (74 2/3) and is 6-5 on the season with a 4.82 ERA. He ranks fourth in the conference in strikeouts (78) and strikeouts per nine innings (9.40). His best outing came April 21 when he tossed six shutout innings against Purdue Northwest, earning GLIAC Pitcher of the Week honors. He also took a no-hitter into the seventh inning against Grand Valley State on April 12.
Eifrid is batting .303 on the season with 13 doubles and two triples. He started the season in the bottom half of the batting order, but quickly established himself as a table-setter and was moved to the leadoff spot. The freshman leads the team with 11 stolen bases.
Hitchcock ranks third in the GLIAC in innings pitched (72) and is 6-4 on the season with one save and a 5.13 ERA. He has struck out 67 batters, ranking sixth in the GLIAC. He was named the GLIAC Pitcher of the Week on March 12 after going 2-0 with a 1.98 ERA in two starts in Florida.
Davenport's Zac Wilson was named the GLIAC Player of the Year, Northwood's Tyler Jandron repeated as the GLIAC Pitcher of the Year, Grand Valley State's Nolan Anspaugh was the GLIAC Freshman Player of the Year, Purdue Northwest's Kyle Freel was named the GLIAC Freshman Pitcher of the Year and Northwood's Jordan Bischel repeated as the GLIAC Coach of the Year. Wayne State's Ryan Mergener won the league's Troy Berry Award.
The Eagles (30-18) will open GLIAC Tournament play on Thursday (May 10) at 6 p.m. against Wayne State at the Detroit Police Athletic League Corner Ballpark.
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