CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Today the Mid-American Conference announced the All-MAC First Team, Second Team & Specialty Award selections for the 2023 season. The teams were voted on by the league's head coaches. The league's All-Defensive Team has also been announced.
Toledo's Jeron Williams was named MAC Player of the Year, while Kent State's Joe Whitman was tabbed the MAC Pitcher of the Year. Eastern Michigan's Josh Kross earned Freshman of the Year accolades, while Bowling Green's DJ Newman was selected as the Freshman Pitcher of the Year. Miami's Cooper Weiss earned Defensive Player of the Year honors, while Kent State's Jeff Duncan rounded out the speciality awards by being selected as the Coach of the Year.
Williams recently capped one of the best offensive seasons by a Rocket in program history. He started all 55 games at shortstop and hit .403 with 14 home runs, 48 RBIs, 67 runs scored, 16 doubles, four triples, a .681 slugging percentage, .467 on-base percentage, and an incredible 49 stolen bases. Following the conclusion of the regular season, Williams led all of NCAA Division I in hits and stolen bases; his 49 thefts were 10 more than the next-highest total. The Archbold, Ohio native shattered the single-season stolen base record and was one away from tying the MAC single-season record for stolen bases. Williams' 162 total bases accrued in 2023 are a new school record, and he is the first Rocket to hit .400 in a season since former All-American and MLB First-Round Draft Pick Mitch Maier in 2003.
Whitman becomes the 14th Golden Flash to earn Pitcher of the Year honors since 1990 and the first since Joey Murray in 2018. The lefty went a perfect 7-0 in 10 conference starts and led the conference with a 2.53 earned run average. Whitman never allowed more than four runs in a MAC start and allowed zero or one run on six different occasions.
Newman is the second player in BGSU history to win Freshman Pitcher of the Year, joining Zac Carey's 2015 campaign. As for at the dish, he's the first Falcon since 2021 to be named First Team All-MAC and the second since 2015. Newman made 15 appearances with three starts, including eight innings of shutout baseball against Toledo in his final start of the season (May 18). In the start against the Rockets, Newman struck out a season-high eight, gave up just two hits, faced only three batters over the minimum and retired the final 17 batters he faced. Over the course of the season, he maintained a 3.49 ERA, third on the team and second among pitchers with at least 10.0+ innings pitched. He struck out 33 batters over 28.2 innings of work and walked just five batters, the fewest among pitchers with 10.0+ innings on the team.
Kross ranked fifth in the MAC with a .376 batting average, finishing first in RBI (70), third in hits (86), fourth in doubles (18), and fifth in home runs (15). His 70 runs knocked ranks 16th in the nation while his 149 total bases is 33rd-best in the NCAA Division I ranks. Not a prototypal slugger, Kross was the second hardest player in the MAC to strikeout, fanning once every 8.8 at-bats. The Brunswick, Ohio, native's 70 RBIs tied for second-most in a single season at EMU. He finished tied Chris Hoiles (1986) and Ryan Goleski (2002), one shy of the record held by Derrick Peterson (71 - 2004). All told, Kross had 30 multiple-hit games to go along with a pair of four hit performances. He also had 22 multi-RBI games over the course of the year, including driving in five against Western Michigan, March 18.
Weiss finished the season with a .989 fielding percentage and did not make an error in his last 49 games. The junior from Fort Myers, Fla. is Miami's first Defensive Player of the Year since Carlos (Adrian) Texidor in 2018.
Duncan earns his fourth MAC Coach of the Year honor and first since he won three straight from 2016-18. Picked third in the pre-season poll, he guided the Flashes to 24 wins, tying the program record for conference wins in a season and the 16th regular season title in program history. This season, the Flashes led the MAC in average, runs scored, doubles and on-base percentage. Kent State also led the league with a 3.89 team ERA in conference, tossing four shutouts and leading the MAC with a .232 batting average against.
The MAC Baseball Tournament begins tomorrow at Olga Mural Field at Schoonover Stadium as No. 1 Kent State takes on No. 4 Western Michigan at 12:30 p.m. ET, while No. 2 Central Michigan faces No. 3 Ball State at 6 p.m. ET. Both games can be seen on ESPN+
2023 MAC Baseball Specialty Award Winners & All-Conference Teams
Coach of the Year: Jeff Duncan, Kent State
Player of the Year: Jeron Williams, SS, Toledo
Pitcher of the Year: Joe Whitman, LHP, Kent State
Defensive Player of the Year: Cooper Weiss, SS, Miami
Freshman of the Year: Josh Kross, 1B, Eastern Michigan
Freshman Pitcher of the Year: DJ Newman, RHP, Bowling Green
First Team
C – Justin Miknis, Kent State
1B – Aiden Longwell, Kent State
2B – Luke Sefcik, Central Michigan
SS – Jeron Williams, Toledo
3B – Ryan Peltier, Ball State
OF – Matt Kirk, Eastern Michigan
OF – Collin Mathews, Kent State
OF – Decker Scheffler, Ball State
DH – DJ Newman, Bowling Green
SP – Joe Whitman, Kent State
SP – Adam Mrakitsch, Central Michigan
SP – Ben Cruikshank, Kent State
SP – Kenten Egbert, Miami
RP – Mitchell Scott, Kent State
At-Large – Josh Kross, Eastern Michigan
Second Team
C – Kyle Gurney, Bowling Green
1B – Cade Sullivan, Western Michigan
2B – Mack Timbrook, Kent State
SS – Adam Tellier, Ball State
3B – Christian Mitchelle, Central Michigan
OF – Garret Pike, Toledo
OF – Mason Sykes, Toledo
OF – Nathan Archer, Bowling Green
DH – Owen Jackson, Toledo
SP – Trennor O’Donnell, Ball State
SP – Brady Miller, Western Michigan
SP – Connor Oliver, Miami
SP – Keegan Batka, Central Michigan
RP – ?Cal McAninch, Toledo
At-Large – Jimmy Allen, Western Michigan
All-Defensive Team
C – Hunter Dobbins, Ball State
1B – Aidan Longwell, Kent State
2B – Brian Fry, Toledo
SS – Cooper Weiss, Miami
3B – Ryan Peltier, Ball State
OF – Nathan Archer, Bowling Green
OF – Jacob Donahue, Central Michigan
OF – Collin Mathews, Kent State
P – Adam Mrakitsch, Central Michigan
