Baseball

MAC Announces Week 11 Baseball Awards

Player of the Week
Ty Stecko, Eastern Michigan, Utility 
Senior, North Huntingdon, Pa. (Norwin)
Eastern Michigan senior Ty Stecko had a historic week at the plate. The utility man homered in all four games, including a two-homer game against Northern Illinois, April 25. In 18 at-bats, Stecko recorded a .500 batting average and 1.968 OPS. He had nine hits, seven of which went for extra bases (two doubles and five home runs), equaling 10 RBI and 26 total bases. Stecko joins Houston's Cade Climie as the only Division I players with an active four-game home run streak and sits five games behind Pittsburgh's Lorenzo Carrier, who homered in nine straight games from Feb. 28 to March 13 earlier this season. He is the first EMU player to homer in four consecutive games since the 2002 season.

Co-Pitcher of the Week
Austin Berggren, Miami, RHP
Senior,  Olathe, Kan. (Olathe)
Austin Berggren closed out three games this week for Miami to help send the RedHawks to a 4-0 week that included their second win over a Big Ten opponent this season and their 17th conference series win in their past 18 conference series. On Tuesday, he pitched the final two innings during a 12-10 win over Michigan in Miami’s first meeting with the Wolverines since 1988, where he struck out three batters, including the final batter of the game. On Saturday, he also pitched the final two innings for Miami, this time against Central Michigan, where he struck out all six batters he faced and earned the save. He earned his fifth save of the season on Sunday, pitching 1.1 innings with just 14 pitches by striking out three batters and tagging out the fourth. Across his three total outings, the senior from Olathe, Kansas, recorded 12 strikeouts in 5.1 innings pitched and allowed just three hits, two runs, zero earned runs, and zero walks, posting a perfect ERA of zero.

Co-Pitcher of the Week
Hayden Frey, Toledo, LHP
Freshman, Troy, Ohio (Troy)
Frey delivered a dominant performance on the mound in Saturday’s 3–1 victory over Bowling Green, controlling the game across a career-high eight innings. He retired the first 10 batters he faced and carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning (5.2), never allowing a runner to reach scoring position. Bowling Green managed just a .042 batting average against him, as he recorded at least one strikeout in seven of his eight innings of work. His eight strikeouts marked the second-highest total of his season, while his eight innings pitched tied for Toledo’s longest start of the year, matching Nathan Leininger’s outing at Central Michigan on March 20. Frey’s standout effort also earned him recognition as one of D1Baseball’s top pitching performers on Saturday.

2026 Baseball Players & Pitchers of the Week
Week 1 (Feb. 16): Sawyer Solitaria, Kent State (Player); Luke Neiswonger, Central Michigan (Pitcher)
Week 2 (Feb. 23): Jacob Gillis, Ball State (Co-Player); Sawyer Solitaria, Kent State (Co-Player); Evan Holewinski, Kent State (Co-Pitcher); Danny Cihocki, Northern Illinois (Co-Pitcher)
Week 3 (March 2): Tommy Harrison, Miami (Player); Brendan Garza, Ball State (Pitcher)
Week 4 (March 9): Caden Robertson, Northern Illinois (Player); Ethan Stade, Bowling Green (Pitcher)
Week 5 (March 16): Ryan Muizelaar, Ball State (Player); Zac Sohosky, Miami (Pitcher)
Week 6 (March 23): Harrison Bowman, Central Michigan, (Player); Nathan Leininger, Toledo (Pitcher)
Week 7 (March 30): Ryan Muizelaar, Ball State (Player); Brendan Garza, Ball State (Co-Pitcher); Max Vaisvila, Northern Illinois (Co-Pitcher)
Week 8 (April 6): Tommy Harrison, Miami (Player); Carter Cox, Northern Illinois (Pitcher)
Week 9 (April 13): Gavin O’Brien, UMass (Player); Adam Merritt, UMass (Pitcher)
Week 10 (April 20): Avery Thielman, Western Michigan (Player); Ethan Stade, Bowling Green (Pitcher)
Week 11 (April 27): Ty Stecko, Eastern Michigan (Player); Austin Berggren, Miami (Co-Pitcher); Hayden Frey, Toledo (Co-Pitcher)