Mid-American Conference

Cleveland, Ohio - Today the Mid-American Conference announced the All-MAC First Team, Second Team & Specialty Award selections for the 2015 season. The teams were voted on by the league's head coaches. The league's All-Defensive Team was also announced this evening. 

Ohio's Mitch Longo was named MAC Player of the Year, while teammate Logan Cozart was tabbed as MAC Pitcher of the Year. Toledo's A.J. Montoya earned MAC Freshman of the Year honors, Bowling Green's Zac Carey was picked as this year's MAC Freshman Pitcher of the Year & Toledo's Deion Tansel earned MAC Defensive Player of the Year accolades. Central Michigan's Steve Jaksa was named the leagues MAC Coach of the Year. 

Longo leads the way for the Bobcats, leading the MAC with 79 hits and 46 RBI while ranking second with a .364 batting average and 109 total bases and third with 44 runs scored. His 79 hits rank 22nd in the country while his .364 batting average ranks 49th. Longo is considered the 41st toughest hitter to strike out in the country. He leads the Bobcats with six home runs, a .502 slugging percentage and a .426 on-base percentage and has drawn 20 walks on the season. In conference play, Longo batted a team-best .365 with a team-best .548 slugging percentage and .413 on-base percentage. He led the squad with 42 hits in conference play -- including nine doubles and a team-high four home runs -- to go along with a team-high 25 RBI and 26 runs scored. Longo has tallied a team-high 22 multi-hit games in 2015 -- including six games with at least three hits and two with five or more hits. He ranks second on the squad with 11 multi-RBI games this year.

Cozart is 14th in the nation and paces the MAC with a 1.59 ERA and leads the Bobcats with 72 strikeouts in 56.2 innings pitched. Cozart also leads the `Cats with a .146 batting average against. He ranks 18th in the country with a single-season school record 12 saves, which surpasses the nine nailed down by Chad Reed in 1992. Cozart's 11.4 strikeouts per nine innings leads the MAC and is the 14th-best mark in the nation. Cozart closed conference play with a 5-0 record, six saves and 1.29 ERA in 12 appearances and 28.0 innings pitched. He posted 30 strikeouts while allowing only four earned runs on 12 hits and eight walks. Cozart has a streak of 14 straight scoreless innings pitched going, fanning 15 while allowing just two hits and six walks. He is 1-0 with four saves during the stretch. 

Montoya becomes only the second Rocket to earn MAC Freshman of the Year recognition, joining Mitch Maier who captured the award in 2001. Montoya tops all league rookies and paces the conference in total bases (115) and ranks second in at-bats (219), tied for second in doubles (16), third in slugging percentage (.525), tied for third in home runs (9) and ninth in RBI (36). In addition to leading the Rockets in the six aforementioned categories, Montoya tops the Rockets in batting average (.320), runs scored (34), hits (70), two-base hits (16), multi-hit contests (21) and multi-RBI games (11) and is second in base-on-balls (21) and on-base percentage (.380).

Carey, a native of London, Ohio, took home MAC Freshman Pitcher of the Year honors after compiling a 6-0 record during league play. He is the first pitcher at Bowling Green to be honored as a MAC Pitcher of the Year since Brennan Smith took home honors in 2009. A true freshman, Carey compiled a 2.40 earned run average in 56.1 IP during MAC play. He tied for the MAC lead with six wins during conference action and was the only starting pitcher who started all nine weeks to go undefeated. He was also recognized as a second team All-MAC honoree amongst starting pitchers.

Tansel currently leads the Rockets in on-base percentage (.413) and stolen bases (11) and ranks second on the squad in batting average (.316). The third-year performer has hit safely in 30 of 40 contests, posting 14 multi-hit and four multi-RBI efforts. Tansel is performing even better in MAC contests with a team-best .346 batting average (10th in MAC) and .452 on-base percentage (fifth in MAC). Defensively, the sure-handed shortstop has totaled 128 assists and 78 putouts, while commiting only seven errors for a .967 fielding percentage.

The MAC Baseball Championship begins tomorrow with four games. No. 3 Ohio takes on No. 6 Bowling Green at 9:30 a.m., while No. 2 Kent State will battle No. 7 Western Michigan at 1 p.m. No. 1 Central Michigan takes on No. 8 Akron at 4:30 p.m. and No. 4 Toledo closes out the day with an 8 p.m. game vs. No. 5 Ball State. 

MAC Player of the Year: Mitch Longo, OF, Ohio