MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — Missouri State's one-two punch of Jake Burger andSpencer Johnson added to its haul of postseason awards Wednesday, as the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) bestowed third-team All-America honors on each after the duo combined for 45 of the Bears' 80 home runs this spring.
Johnson, who was selected by Houston in the 16th round of last week's Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, becomes the 37th Missouri State baseball standout to be honored as an All-American and the fifth Bear to earn the distinction in 2016 alone. Burger, who was previously a second-team All-America selection by Collegiate Baseball and a third-team pick of Baseball America, is bidding to become the Bears' fourth consensus All-American in the last five years after Nick Petree (2012 and 2013) and Matt Hall (2015) each earned the honor.
Additionally, rookie shortstop Jeremy Eierman was tabbed for second-team freshman All-America honors by the NCBWA on Monday. The Warsaw, Mo., product was previously honored as a freshman All-American by Colleigate Baseball, along with MSU classmates Hunter Steinmetz and Dylan Coleman, earlier this month.
Burger was named NCBWA's 2016 District VI Player of the Year after posting one of the most dominant offensive seasons in MSU history. Just the fourth Missouri State player overall (along with Petree in 2011-13, Mark Bailey in 1980 and 1982 and Ken Watkins in 1969-70) to garner All-America recognition in multiple years, Burger was a semifinalist for both the Dick Howser Trophy and USA Baseball's Golden Spikes Award this spring after clubbing 21 homers, good for the No. 2 spot on the Division I home run chart. The sophomore also leads the MVC and ranks among the national leaders in hits (82), runs scored (59), RBIs (72) and total bases (162). Additionally, he batted .349 overall and logged a team-high 24 multi-hit games and 19 multi-RBI performances, including 16 in which he drove in at least three runs.
The Chesterfield, Mo., product was tabbed MVC Defensive Player of the Year and was a first-team all-conference pick of the league's coaches at third base for the second season in a row. Burger became the second Bear in as many years to be named the league's top defensive player after committing just two errors in 138 total chances this spring, good for a .986 fielding percentage, including a string of 34 consecutive error-free games to wrap up the season. He was cited for Valley Player of the Week honors three times this spring and was selected to compete for the nation's premier summer collegiate squad in USA Baseball's 2016 Collegiate National Team.
A second-team All-MVC selection and the Bears' A.E. `Ted' Willis MVP, Johnson enjoyed a banner senior campaign, launching an NCAA Division I-best 24 home runs to go along with career-best totals for RBIs (70), runs (56), triples (3) and total bases (157). The Springfield, Mo., product led the MVC in walks (46) and slugging percentage (.707) and ranked second in total bases and third in runs, RBIs and sacrifice flies (6). He was twice named Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week this spring, most notably following his April 6 performance vs. Kansas, in which he became the first Bear to homer three times in a game since 1999 and the first MSU player to drive in nine runs in 20 years.
Johnson capped his MSU career with a landmark run through the MVC Championship in Terre Haute, belting five home runs to earn most outstanding player recognition in leading the Bears to a runner-up finish. He completed his playing career in the No. 18 spot on MSU's career hits list with 218, second on the Bears' all-time walks chart (133) and ninth in career doubles (49). Additionally, his home run total this spring rates as the fifth-best in program history, while his 70 RBIs are the seventh-highest total ever for a Bear.
Through two rounds of voting by the NCBWA membership, three All-America squads consisting of a total of 67 Division I players were selected. Twenty different conferences and 10 conference championships teams are represented on the three squads. Additionally, the three All-America teams include nine conference players of the year, 11 conference pitchers of the year winners and eight first-round draft picks in the recent MLB Draft.
Founded in 1962, the NCBWA is dedicated to the advancement of college baseball. Membership is open to writers, broadcasters and publicists of the sport.
