ABCA/Rawlings All-Midwest Region Teams

WINONA, Minn. — Ben Buerkle (Roseville, Minn.) collected the last of his team-leading 61 hits in the final game of the season for the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota baseball.
 
Not that that should come as a surprise, since the Cardinal sophomore recorded at least one hit in 34 of the Cardinals' 36 games this season.
 
And while he hasn't swung a bat since that season-ending game against regular-season conference champion Bethel on May 2, Buerkle continues to hit pay-dirt when it comes to post-season honors.
 
Less than a week after being named First-Team All-Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and Capital One Academic All-District 6—and just days since adding D3baseball.com First-Team All-Midwest Region honors—Buerkle found himself on the post-season podium once again on Wednesday, being named ABCA/Rawlings All-Midwest Region First-Team.
 
And he wasn't alone.
 
Tyler Lursen (Maple Grove, Minn.) has also had a busy off-season, as the junior catcher—already named First-Team All-MIAC and Second-Team D3baseball.com All-Midwest Region—was named to the ABCA/Rawlings All-Midwest Region Second Team.
 
Buerkle is no stranger to the ABCA/Rawlings stage, having earned All-Midwest Region Third Team honors a year ago—becoming one of just three freshmen among the 50 Division III players named to one of the three region teams.
 
And he picked up right where he left off this season, leading the Cardinals in virtually every offensive category in helping Saint Mary's to a 24-12 overall record—the most wins since the 1995 Cardinal squad when 24-11.
 
As good as Buerkle was as a freshman, 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.
 
After playing in just 25 games in his first two seasons combined, Lursen enjoyed a career year in 2015, posting a .406 batting average (41-for-101), with 10 doubles, a triple and four home runs. The junior catcher delivered 27 RBIs—including his first collegiate 5 RBI game against Saint John's on April 4—while compiling a .644 slugging percentage and a .459 on-base percentage.
 
Buerkle and Lursen were two of 18 players from the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference among the 50 selected to the three All-Midwest Region teams.
 
The University of Chicago's Kyle Engel was named ABCA/Rawlings Midwest Region Position Player of the Year, while North Central's Bryan Polowy was the region's Pitcher of the Year.
 
The ABCA/Rawlings All-Region teams are voted on by members of the American Baseball Coaches Association and the process is led by the ABCA NCAA Division III All-America Committee. All-Region first-team selections are nominated for ABCA/Rawlings All-America honors. ABCA/Rawlings All-Americans and Gold Glove winners will be announced on Thursday.
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