Mid-American Conference

Ohio’s Rudy Rott was named MAC Player of the Year, while Kent State's Joey Murray was tabbed as MAC Pitcher of the Year for the second consecutive season. Toledo’s John Servello earned MAC Freshman of the Year honors, Ball State’s Drey Jameson was picked as this year's MAC Freshman Pitcher of the Year & Miami’s Adrian Texidor earned MAC Defensive Player of the Year accolades. Kent State's Jeff Duncan was named the MAC Coach of the Year for the third consecutive season. Rott joins Marc Krauss (2009) and Mitch Longo (2015) as the only Bobcats to receive the MAC Player of the Year award. He gives the Bobcats seven All-MAC First Team selections over the last four seasons.
 
Rott led the Bobcats in batting average (.355), slugging percentage (.654), on-base percentage (.440), hits (76), doubles (15), home runs (15), walks (30), RBIs (50) and runs scored (48) in 2018. He also tied for the team lead with two triples. Rott tied for the MAC lead in hits and home runs and ranked second in slugging percentage and RBIs, third in batting average and fifth in runs scored. His 140 total bases were good for a conference-high, rank 17th in the nation and tied him for the 10th-most in a single season in Ohio history. He led Ohio with 24 multi-hit games – including a team-high eight with at least three hits – and also led the Bobcats with 15 multi-RBI games.
 
Murray set the single-season strikeout record for Kent State with a sensational 2018 regular season. He finished with 132 strikeouts and just 31 walks on the season. Murray will start post-season play with an 8-1 record and an ERA of 1.63. The Dublin, Ohio native recorded double-digit strikeout totals in six of his 14 starts. He held the opposition to four hits or fewer in 13 of his 14 starts.
 
Duncan has guided KSU to one MAC Tournament title (2014) and back-to-back-to-back regular season conference crowns in 2016, 2017 and 2018. It is KSU’s third “three-peat” in the last eight years.
 

BSU's Jameson notched quality starts in six of his nine conference starts. In league games, Jameson ranked among the top four pitchers in ERA (2.08), opponent batting average (.171), strikeouts (70), wins (6) and runs allowed (15). The righty currently ranks second in the league and 28th nationally in strikeouts per nine innings (11.97). He tossed a complete-game shutout at Eastern Michigan on April 8. A few weeks ago at Ohio, Jameson piled up a season-high 12 strikeouts in a 15-1 victory. This past weekend, he held Western Michigan to one hit and one run in six innings of work. Jameson is the second Ball State player to earn MAC Freshman Pitcher of the Year since the award was created in 2014. Former Cardinal Zach Plesac took home the inaugural award in 2014. 

Servello becomes the third Rocket to ever win the award, joining Mitch Maier (2001) and AJ Montoya (2015). Heading into the conference tournament, his .353 batting average is fourth in the league and 10th among all freshmen in the country. It would be the highest mark by a UT freshman since Maier hit .444 in 2001. Earlier this season, Servello had a 23-game on-base streak and a 19-game hitting streak, both of which are season-highs for Toledo and the longest by a Rocket since 2010

 
All the #MACtion starts tomorrow with first round contests. For more MAC Baseball Tournament information you can visit Tournament Central -- located HERE