Evangel University baseball had three players named to the All-Heart of America conference team and had one Gold Glove award winner in a vote of league coaches this week.
Outfielder Kyle Thurman was named 2nd Team All-Heart of America conference. The junior from O’Fallon, Missouri hit .288 with 9 home runs and 54 runs batted in. Thurman was seventh in the league in RBI’s and his .582 slugging percentage was tied for 13th best in the conference. He also hit 21 doubles, fourth most in the Heart of America and his 9 homers tied him for ninth in the league. Thurman was in his first season at Evangel having transferred last year from Longview Community College.
Second baseman Stevin Cisneros was an honorable mention all-conference selection. Cisneros, a junior from Rocklin, California, was also in his first season at Evangel having transferred from Sierra College. He led Evangel’s team with a .333 batting average while hitting one home run and driving in 17. His .441 on-base percentage also led the Crusaders. Cisneros was eighth in the conference in runs scored with 42.
Cisneros was also named the conference’s Gold Glove award winner as the league best defensive player at second base.
Springfield-Parkview product Darin Francis was named an honorable mention all-conference selection. The senior hit .305 with 6 homers and 43 RBI’s. His RBI total ranked him 18th in the league and his home run total was tied for 17th most in the conference. This season marked the third time in his career Francis has been named to the all-conference team.
Evangel finished 15-38 this season under first year head coach Russell Brand.
