Central Michigan University Athletics
Stovall, Collmenter Named MAC Player, Pitcher of the Year
5/23/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
MOUNT PLEASANT Central Michigan University junior outfielder Tyler Stovall (Cincinnati, Ohio/Moeller HS) and junior right-hander Josh Collmenter (Homer, Mich./Homer HS) have been selected the Mid-American Conference Player and Pitcher of the Year, respectively.
The pair headlines a group of six Chippewas to earn All-MAC honors. CMU’s three first team selections and six overall all-conference honorees are tied for the most in the MAC in 2007. The six all-conference selections are the most in one season for CMU since the 1995 team placed six on the All-MAC squad.
Stovall and Collmenter were unanimous selections to the All-MAC first team, as was senior first baseman Ben Humphrey (West Chester, Ohio/Olney Central CC). Second team honorees were junior shortstop Jeff Helps (Wyoming, Ont./St. Clair CC), sophomore pitcher Dan Taylor (Jenison, Mich./Jenison HS) and redshirt freshman designated hitter Billy Anderson (Sault Ste. Marie, Mich./Sault Area HS).
Humphrey is a repeat selection to the first team, while Collmenter makes his first appearance on the first team after being a second-team pick in 2005 and 2006. Stovall, Helps, Taylor and Anderson are all making their first appearance on the all-conference squad.
Stovall is the first CMU player to be named MAC Player of the Year since Toby Kominek in 1995. He is the fifth Chippewa overall to collect the honor. Collmenter is the second CMU hurler to be named MAC Pitcher of the Year, joining Tim McDonald in 1988.
Stovall has had the finest offensive season of any player in the MAC in 2007. He leads the MAC in batting average (.409), hits (88), RBI (59) and on-base percentage (.480), ranks second in steals (20), tied for second in runs scored (57), and third in slugging percentage (.591) and total bases (127). He has recorded 26 multiple-hit games, including a career-best 5-for-6 performance at Akron on April 14 in which he tied a school record with four doubles and scored a school-record six runs. His 88 hits are the third-most in a season at CMU, while his 57 runs scored tie for the 10th-most in school history.
Stovall put together a 21-game hitting streak earlier this season, tied for the second-longest streak in CMU history. He hit .468 (44-for-94), scored 31 runs and drove in 24 runs during the streak.
Collmenter posted a 9-3 mark with a 1.49 earned-run average in 14 starts during the regular season. In nine MAC starts, he was 8-1 with a 0.71 ERA. A four-time MAC West Division Pitcher of the Week selection, Collmenter hurled a trio of complete-game shutouts against conference opponents. He worked at least seven innings in all nine MAC starts and surrendered two or fewer earned runs in each MAC outing. Collmenter limited opposing hitters to a .188 batting average; MAC opponents batted just .161 against him.
Collmenter, who has fanned at least 10 hitters in a game nine times in his career, became CMU’s all-time strikeouts leader earlier this season. He enters the conference tournament with 283 career strikeouts. Collmenter has whiffed 112 batters in 108-2/3 innings in 2007, 11 short of the school single-season record.
Humphrey concluded the regular season second in the MAC in hits (80) and doubles (18), tied for second in homers (10), runs (57) and RBI (51) and fourth in batting average (.360). He has 18 doubles this season, tied for the fourth-most in a season at CMU, while his 80 hits and 57 runs rank 10th and tied for 10th, respectively, in a season at CMU.
Helps has started 53 games at shortstop in 2007. He was named MAC West Division Player of the Week after batting .600 (9-for-15) with five extra-base hits, six runs and seven RBI in a four-game stretch in mid-April. Helps posted 19 multi-hit games, including a career-best 4-for-4 performance at Western Michigan on May 12. He was hit by a school-record 16 pitches this season.
Taylor assumed a spot in the weekend rotation and posted a 7-1 overall record, including 5-1 in nine MAC starts. He was named MAC West Division Pitcher of the Week after throwing three hitless innings of relief in a come-from-behind, 5-4 win at Alabama-Birmingham on the season’s opening weekend. Taylor is second on the CMU staff with 51 strikeouts; he fanned a career-high seven in two different starts this season.
Anderson enters the MAC Tournament riding a career-best 16-game hitting streak in which he is batting .509 (29-for-57). He is hitting .430 for the season, but is 21 at-bats short of the minimum required to qualify for the MAC leaders. In conference action, he is batting a team-best .417. He was named MAC West Division Player of the Week after hitting .636 (7-for-11) in a three-game sweep of Western Michigan May 11-13.
CMU (35-19 overall, 21-6 MAC) is the No. 3 seed in this week’s MAC Tournament. The Chippewas open the tourney against No. 4 seed Miami at 10 a.m. Wednesday.
The pair headlines a group of six Chippewas to earn All-MAC honors. CMU’s three first team selections and six overall all-conference honorees are tied for the most in the MAC in 2007. The six all-conference selections are the most in one season for CMU since the 1995 team placed six on the All-MAC squad.
Stovall and Collmenter were unanimous selections to the All-MAC first team, as was senior first baseman Ben Humphrey (West Chester, Ohio/Olney Central CC). Second team honorees were junior shortstop Jeff Helps (Wyoming, Ont./St. Clair CC), sophomore pitcher Dan Taylor (Jenison, Mich./Jenison HS) and redshirt freshman designated hitter Billy Anderson (Sault Ste. Marie, Mich./Sault Area HS).
Humphrey is a repeat selection to the first team, while Collmenter makes his first appearance on the first team after being a second-team pick in 2005 and 2006. Stovall, Helps, Taylor and Anderson are all making their first appearance on the all-conference squad.
Stovall is the first CMU player to be named MAC Player of the Year since Toby Kominek in 1995. He is the fifth Chippewa overall to collect the honor. Collmenter is the second CMU hurler to be named MAC Pitcher of the Year, joining Tim McDonald in 1988.
Stovall has had the finest offensive season of any player in the MAC in 2007. He leads the MAC in batting average (.409), hits (88), RBI (59) and on-base percentage (.480), ranks second in steals (20), tied for second in runs scored (57), and third in slugging percentage (.591) and total bases (127). He has recorded 26 multiple-hit games, including a career-best 5-for-6 performance at Akron on April 14 in which he tied a school record with four doubles and scored a school-record six runs. His 88 hits are the third-most in a season at CMU, while his 57 runs scored tie for the 10th-most in school history.
Stovall put together a 21-game hitting streak earlier this season, tied for the second-longest streak in CMU history. He hit .468 (44-for-94), scored 31 runs and drove in 24 runs during the streak.
Collmenter posted a 9-3 mark with a 1.49 earned-run average in 14 starts during the regular season. In nine MAC starts, he was 8-1 with a 0.71 ERA. A four-time MAC West Division Pitcher of the Week selection, Collmenter hurled a trio of complete-game shutouts against conference opponents. He worked at least seven innings in all nine MAC starts and surrendered two or fewer earned runs in each MAC outing. Collmenter limited opposing hitters to a .188 batting average; MAC opponents batted just .161 against him.
Collmenter, who has fanned at least 10 hitters in a game nine times in his career, became CMU’s all-time strikeouts leader earlier this season. He enters the conference tournament with 283 career strikeouts. Collmenter has whiffed 112 batters in 108-2/3 innings in 2007, 11 short of the school single-season record.
Humphrey concluded the regular season second in the MAC in hits (80) and doubles (18), tied for second in homers (10), runs (57) and RBI (51) and fourth in batting average (.360). He has 18 doubles this season, tied for the fourth-most in a season at CMU, while his 80 hits and 57 runs rank 10th and tied for 10th, respectively, in a season at CMU.
Helps has started 53 games at shortstop in 2007. He was named MAC West Division Player of the Week after batting .600 (9-for-15) with five extra-base hits, six runs and seven RBI in a four-game stretch in mid-April. Helps posted 19 multi-hit games, including a career-best 4-for-4 performance at Western Michigan on May 12. He was hit by a school-record 16 pitches this season.
Taylor assumed a spot in the weekend rotation and posted a 7-1 overall record, including 5-1 in nine MAC starts. He was named MAC West Division Pitcher of the Week after throwing three hitless innings of relief in a come-from-behind, 5-4 win at Alabama-Birmingham on the season’s opening weekend. Taylor is second on the CMU staff with 51 strikeouts; he fanned a career-high seven in two different starts this season.
Anderson enters the MAC Tournament riding a career-best 16-game hitting streak in which he is batting .509 (29-for-57). He is hitting .430 for the season, but is 21 at-bats short of the minimum required to qualify for the MAC leaders. In conference action, he is batting a team-best .417. He was named MAC West Division Player of the Week after hitting .636 (7-for-11) in a three-game sweep of Western Michigan May 11-13.
CMU (35-19 overall, 21-6 MAC) is the No. 3 seed in this week’s MAC Tournament. The Chippewas open the tourney against No. 4 seed Miami at 10 a.m. Wednesday.
Baseball vs Valparaiso
Tuesday, May 12
Baseball vs Akron
Sunday, May 10
Baseball vs Akron
Saturday, May 09
Baseball vs Akron
Friday, May 08