Murray State University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Trio Receives All-OVC Honors
5/22/2018 4:05:00 PM | Baseball
Brandon Gutzler and Davis Sims were named Second Team All-OVC and Grant Wood was named the OVC Freshman of the Year Tuesday afternoon announced by the league office, in a vote taken by the league's head coaches and Sports Information Directors.
Gutzler was named an All-OVC outfielder for the second consecutive year after receiving first team honors in 2017. Gutzler hit .348 this season and was second on the team with nine home runs and 47 doubles. Gutzler added 10 doubles and 43 runs scored. In league play, he hit .336 with eight doubles, six homers and led the team with 28 ribbies and 26 runs. Gutzler was tied for the team lead with 13 multi-RBI games.
Sims received his honor at third base a year after being named the OVC's Rookie of the Year. Sims is second in the nation with 28 doubles, one shy of tying the OVC single-season record. Sims hit .363 this season and led the team with 78 hits, 50 RBIs and 48 runs scored while blasting six homers. During league play, Sims' .353 batting average led the team. Earlier this season, Sims had a 44-game on-base streak and a 19-game hitting streak. Sims led the Racers with 21 multi-hit games and was tied for the team-lead with 13 multi-RBI games.
Wood is the second-straight MSU player to be named OVC Freshman of the Year, following Sims who was the first Racer to win the award a year ago. Wood led MSU in batting average (.375), a mark that ranked seventh in the OVC. Wood led the league in on-base percentage, a mark that was fifth among all Division I players, and was 20th nationally in walks (0.9/game). Overall on the season he had 66 hits to go along with 43 runs scored while also hitting 16 doubles, four home runs and 40 RBIs. Wood had 18 multi-hit and 12 multi-RBI games during the season and enters the postseason having reached base in 27 consecutive contests.
The Racers begin OVC Tournament play Tuesday night against Eastern Illinois at 6 p.m.
