NORMAL, Ill. – Nick Rodriguez is the Joe Carter Player of the Year, Max Knight is the co-Newcomer of the Year and Tyler Epstein is the Defensive Player of the Year, headlining a group of seven Bears named to all-Missouri Valley Conference baseball teams, the league announced Tuesday morning. Jake McCutcheon, Caden Bogenpohl, Carter Bergman and Jason Schaaf also received all-conference recognition.
The Bears (27-23, 17-8 MVC) claimed a share of their seventh MVC regular season championship and are the No. 2 seed at the MVC Baseball Championship, beginning play Wednesday at 7 p.m. against an opponent to be determined from Tuesday’s opening round winners at Duffy Bass Field in Normal, Ill.
✅ Player of the Year
✅ Newcomer of the Year
✅ Defensive Player of the Year
7⃣ Total Bears on all-MVC teams 👏🔗 https://t.co/kwnW7rIQy3 pic.twitter.com/NJxwEyWeuJ
— Missouri State Baseball (@MoStateBSB) May 20, 2025
Missouri State Awards Summary
Carter Bergman (Jr., C, Kansas City, Kan.) – Honorable Mention
Caden Bogenpohl (So., OF, Jackson, Mo.) – Second Team
Tyler Epstein (Gr., SS, Pembroke Pines, Fla.) – Defensive Player of the Year; Second Team; Defensive Team
Max Knight (So., 1B/LHP, Bixby, Okla.) – co-Newcomer of the Year; First Team
Jack McCutcheon (Jr., OF, Defiance, Mo.) – First Team
Nick Rodriguez (Sr., 2B, Tampa,Fla.) – Joe Carter Player of the Year; First Team; Defensive Team
Jason Schaaf (Jr., SP, Las Vegas, Nev.) – Honorable Mention
Carter Bergman
Bergman started all 25 MVC games behind the plate and batted .280 with six homers and 22 RBIs in league play. For the full year, Bergman is hitting .262 with eight homers, 12 doubles, 36 RBIs and a .510 slugging percentage. He leads all MVC catchers with 357 putouts and a .997 fielding percentage, committing just one error this season.
Caden Bogenpohl
Bogenpohl is batting .293 with 10 home runs and 39 RBIs this season as the Bears’ everyday centerfielder and leadoff man. Bogenpohl ranks third in the MVC and 35th nationally with 47 walks, already the No. 4 single season total in MSU history. In less than two seasons, the sophomore ranks 20th in MSU career history with 30 home runs and 12th with 100 walks. He owns a .439 on-base percentage and has reached safely in 48 of his 49 games this season, which included part of a 50-game on-base streak that carried over from his freshman campaign.
Tyler Epstein
Epstein is Missouri State’s third MVC Defensive Player of the Year, joining Joey Hawkins (2015) and Jake Burger (2016). He owned a .972 fielding percentage with just two errors at shortstop in conference play, and batted .363 with a .469 on-base percentage. For the full year, Epstein is batting .329 with five homers, 25 RBIs, 14 stolen bases and 36 runs scored. He ranks 10th in The Valley with a .444 on-base percentage, 10th in assists (108), 11th in fielding double plays (23) and sixth in steals. Epstein’s .914 career stolen base percentage ranks third in MoState history, and he was named to the Brooks Wallace Award watch list earlier this season, given to the nation’s top shortstop.
Max Knight
Knight is Missouri State’s 10th MVC Newcomer of the Year and first since Doug Still in 2017. One of the top two-way players in the nation, the sophomore has a hit and a pitching appearance in the same game 15 times this season, including seven times with a home run. He was the MVC Pitcher of the Week on March 31 and is the only player nationally with at least 45 RBIs, 50 pitching strikeouts and five victories. Knight is batting .285 with 13 home runs, 46 RBIs and a .570 slugging percentage, and boasts a 5-2 record with three saves, a 3.46 ERA, 51 strikeouts and .176 opponent average in 41.2 innings on the mound. In league games, the southpaw owns a 3.33 ERA and .163 opponent average with a 4-0 record and two saves in nine appearances.
Jake McCutcheon
McCutcheon has started every game for the Bears this season with 18 multi-RBI games in addition to 23 multi-hit outings. He is batting .355 and slugging .640 with a .438 on-base percentage, hitting 14 home runs, 13 doubles and driing in 50 rus. McCutcheon ranks among the MVC leaders in average (6th – .355), total bases (6th – 128), hits (7th – 71), homers (7th – 14) and RBIs (8th – 50). He has a pair of four-hit games this season, collecting 11 total bases with two homers, a double and a single on March 22 versus Bradley. In 25 Valley games, McCutcheon batted .362 and slugged .686 with nine homers and 31 RBIs.
Nick Rodriguez
Rodriguez is MSU’s seventh MVC Player of the Year and first since Spencer Nivens in 2023 while repeating as a first-team selection. He is in the midst of a record-breaking season for the Bears, batting .374 and slugging .728 with 22 doubles, 17 home runs and 54 RBIs. He ranks among the national leaders in doubles (14th – 22), total bases (26th – 150), home runs (53rd – 17), slugging % (35th – .728), hits (54th – 77) and runs scored (52nd – 62). His 2025 totals of 22 doubles (4th) and 39 extra-base hits (7th) rank among the top seasons in MoState history. Rodriguez hit safely in every Valley game this season, batting .402 with 24 extra-base hits, 36 RBIs and a .869 slugging percentage in 25 MVC games. The two-time MVC Player of the Week is fielding .977 this season while ranking second in MVC in assists and sixth in fielding double plays. Last but not least, the senior’s active 37-game hitting streak is a school record that ranks as the second-longest in MVC and 17th in NCAA Division I history. The streak also included 15 consecutive games with an extra-base hit from March 23-April 18.
Jason Schaaf
Schaaf led all qualifying MSU pitchers in ERA during conference play, going 4-2 with a 4.50 ERA in eight starts. The junior pitched 44 innings and struck out 36 while holding opponents to a .235 batting average in league games. He pitched six or more innings in five of his league starts, going seven innings twice, and firing a season-high eight strikeouts on April 7 at Southern Illinois.
