Seven Racers Earn All-OVC Honors

5/26/2021 9:37:00 AM | Baseball

OVC Release 2021 All OVC Baseball Team and Award Winners

Murray State topped the OVC with seven All-OVC selections.

The Ohio Valley Conference released the All-OVC selections, Wednesday morning and seven Racers found their names on the lists, the most of any team in the OVC. The seven selections are the most for Murray State since the awards went to a first, second and freshman team format in 2006. Their previous high was six selections in 2009.

Senior second baseman Jordan Cozart highlights the names with his selection to the All-OVC first team while senior outfielder Brock Anderson, junior third baseman Bryson Bloomer, graduate pitcher Sam Gardner and redshirt junior outfielder Jake Slunder picked up All-OVC second team honors, while redshirt freshman pitcher and utility player Jacob Pennington and freshman pitcher Jack Wenninger were All-OVC freshman team selections.

Cozart was the lone first-teamer was for the Racers. He hit .314 with 51 runs scored, 17 doubles, 15 home runs and 50 RBIs. Cozart finished in the top six in most offensive categories in the OVC, leading in total bases (126) and second in both doubles and home runs. He lead the Racers in batting average (.314), slugging pct (.618), on base pct (.401), hits (64), runs batted in (50), total bases (126) and walks (28) and his 15 home runs are tied for eighth-most in a season in program history. He was named the OVC Player of the Week on March 1 after going 11-for-27 (.407) across Murray State's seven games that week.

Anderson is a repeat selection to the All-OVC second team after being named in 2019. He hit .261 with 40 RBI, won the OVC Home Run title with 17 long balls and slugged .585. Anderson's 17 home runs are second in the Racers' single-season batting records behind Wes Cunningham's 22 homers in 2010. His 38 career long balls puts him fifth overall in the Racer record books in his two and a half seasons in a Murray State uniform.

Bloomer, Slunder and Gardner all picked up their first-career All-OVC nods, joining Anderson on the League's Second Team.

In Bloomer's second season as a Racer, the junior from Lincoln Trail Community College played and started 51 games at third base, leading both the Racers and the OVC doubles with 18. He held an on-base streak of 30 games, collecting 18 multi-hit games with ten multi-RBI games, including a pair of five-RBI games. In conference play, Bloomer compiled a .344 average with 12 doubles, eight home runs and 26 home runs.

Slunder, a Cabot, Arkansas native played in 51 games, starting 50 of them in centerfield during his redshirt junior season. He leads the conference with 23 stolen bases on 25 attempts, a total that also ranks tied for 20th nationally. His 53 runs scored also tops the OVC, ranking 34th in the country and he owns a 1.000 fielding percentage in 125 chances.

Gardner finished the regular season with a 5-6 record with an ERA of 5.65 and 69 strikeouts in 63.2 innings pitched. Gardner threw two complete games including the Racers first nine-inning complete game shutout since 2013. The two-time OVC Pitcher of the Week owned a 3.98 ERA in conference play, the ninth best in the league and he tied for second in conference wins with five.

Wenninger, a native of Cary, Illinois, earned his first league honors after going 4-4 with a 5.29 ERA, starting 11 games in 15 appearances. The true freshman threw 51.0 innings, including a complete game shutout against Jacksonville State on Mar. 20. Wenninger fanned 42 batters on the season, throwing a career-high seven in his collegiate debut Feb. 26 against Purdue Fort Wayne.

A 2020 Freshman All-American by Collegiate Baseball News, Pennington's two-way play for the Racers garnered his first league honors. He owns an ERA of 3.83 in 51.2 innings and a record of 4-2 in 17 appearances while striking out 53, second-most on the team. He put together five straight scoreless outings from Apr. 24-May 11 and threw six frames to earn the win against SIUE on May 14. At the plate, he batted .235, making five starts at first base and eight as designated hitter with 12 hits, three doubles, one triple and two home runs and three stolen bases.

In conference play, Murray State led in six offensive categories: runs (212), RBIs (190), doubles (69), triples (8), home runs (52) and total bases (533).

The Racers finished the season with a 30-23 overall record and 18-12 record in OVC action, earning the #2 seed in the OVC Tournament where they will play #3 Morehead State, Thursday morning. First pitch at The Ballpark in Jackson, Tennessee is scheduled for 6 p.m.