DURHAM, N.C. – Missouri State junior Jake Burger became the 11th Bear to earn first-team All-America recognition Thursday when Baseball America tabbed the third baseman for its top 2017 postseason squad.. Sophomore shortstop Jeremy Eierman joined Burger on MSU’s list of honorees, picking up third-team laurels from BA.
Burger becomes just the third Bear to receive first-team All-America honors from Baseball America, joining Nick Petree (2012) and Matt Cepicky (1999) on MSU’s distinguished list of honorees.
A junior from Chesterfield, Mo., Burger ranks sixth nationally with 22 home runs, joining forces with Eierman to form the top power duo at the Division I level with 44 combined round-trippers this spring. Burger, the 2017 MVC Player of the Year, also leads the circuit and ranks sixth nationally in runs scored (69), while rating among the nation’s top 25 hitters in slugging (.663), RBIs (65) and total bases (159) as well. A semifinalist for both the Dick Howser Trophy and Golden Spikes Award, he ranks second among all active Division I hitters with 47 career home runs, while his 240 career hits is the 11th best total in Missouri State history. Additionally, he is just the third Bear to earn First-Team All-MVC honors in three consecutive seasons, joining Steve Hacker (1993-95) and Kevin Medrano (2009-12) on that distinguished list.
Eierman, who was a second-team All-America choice of Collegiate Baseball last week, as well as a Freshman All-American in 2016, is the sixth Bear in program history to earn All-America recognition in multiple seasons. He was named a semifinalist for the NCBWA’s Dick Howser Trophy and earned First-Team All-MVC honors after turning in a breakthrough spring for the Bears, both at the plate and in the middle of the MSU infield as one of the Valley’s top defenders. The Warsaw, Mo., product shares the No. 6 spot nationally with 22 home runs and is a finalist for the Brooks Wallace Award honoring the nation’s top shortstop. He turned in an NCAA Regional to remember last weekend in helping the Bears to their third Super Regional berth, hitting go-ahead, two-run homers in MSU’s opening-round victory over Oklahoma State, as well as in the deciding game against Arkansas.
Missouri State (43-18) will open play at the Fort Worth Super Regional Saturday (June 10) with a 5 p.m. (CDT) game against the No. 6 national seed TCU at Lupton Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas.
