D3baseball.com All-Region Teams

WINONA, Minn. — It's been a busy off-season for Saint Mary's University of Minnesota baseball players Ben Buerkle (Roseville, Minn.) and Tyler Lursen (Maple Grove, Minn.).
 
Less than a week after earning Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference post-season honors, the Cardinal duo was back in the spotlight on Saturday, as Buerkle was named to D3baseball.com All-Midwest Region First-Team, while Lursen was a Second-Team selection.
 
The 2015 season marks the fourth year that D3baseball.com has named All-Region teams, with 800 players nominated for consideration in the eight regions. Players were nominated by Sports Information Directors at various institutions, with selected SIDs, D3baseball.com staff and other contributors then selecting the three, 14-player regional teams.
 
The D3baseball.com selection is just the latest post-season honor for Buerkle, who has also been named First-Team All-MIAC, not to mention Capital One Academic All-District 6, already this season.
 
And with good reason.
 
As good as Buerkle was as a freshman—when he earned MIAC Rookie of the Year and ABCA/Rawlings Third Team All-Midwest Region—he was even better as a sophomore, leading the team in batting average (.462), hits (61), runs (46), doubles (11), triples (4), home runs (7), RBIs (47), total bases (101), slugging percentage (.765), and on-base percentage (.517). Buerkle—who hit for a doubleheader cycle vs. Carleton on April 25, recording two singles, a double, a triple and a home run, not to mention nine RBIs—put together a team-high 20 multiple-hit games, while also owning a team-best 14 multiple-RBI contests.
 
In his first two seasons, Buerkle—who set single-season school records with his 46 runs and 47 RBIs—has put together season-opening hitting streaks of 20 and 15 games, respectively, has had at least one hit in 71 of the 76 games he's played, and has been held off the base paths just twice in 76 career games.
 
Lursen enjoyed a career year in 2015, earning First-Team All-MIAC accolades after posting a .462 batting average (41-for-101), with 10 doubles, a triple and four home runs. The sophomore catcher delivered 27 RBIs, while compiling a .644 slugging percentage and a .459 on-base percentage.
 
Buerkle and Lursen, who helped Saint Mary's close out 2015 with a 24-12 overall record—the most wins since the 1995 Cardinal squad went 24-11—were two of 17 players from the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference among the 42 selected to the three All-Midwest Region teams.
 
UW-Stevens Point's Cody Hanke and Mitch Beau were named D3baseball.com Midwest Region Player and Pitcher of the Year, respectively, while UW-Whitewater's Lake Bachar was Rookie of the Year, and Chris Schwarz of UW-La Crosse earned Coach of the Year honors.