Baseball Raiders leave mark in record book

• Senior Austin Lenzen

Senior Austin Lenzen finished his Raider baseball career third all-time in career batting average with a mark of .366 and second in home runs with eight. His 13 career starts on the mound also rank fourth all-time. Photo by Bob Burrows
• Senior Ben Christensen

Senior Ben Christensen was named the 2011 Raider MVP this season while earning All-Big Rivers Conference Second Team honors. His seven doubles as the team’s lead-off hitter tied him for second most by a Raider in a season. Photo by Bob Burrows

Talk about it

While four members of the Raider baseball team earned All-Big Rivers Conference honors this season, the list of accomplishments, both in and out of the classroom, of the entire team is an impressive one.

Senior Ben Christensen and junior Brett Steinwagner were both named to the All-BRC Second Team while senior Austin Lenzen and junior Kellen Pearson received honorable mention. All four also put their names in the Raider record book.

Lenzen set a new single-season Raider record with four triples in 2011 and finished his career second all-time in home runs with eight and third in batting average with a mark of .366. He also is fourth all-time in career pitching starts with 13.

Steinwagner and Pearson made their marks in a number of single-season pitching categories, Steinwagner’s 57 strikeouts and 48 innings pitched both rank second all-time while his .215 opponents batting average is the fourth best.

Pearson is right behind Steinwagner in opponents’ batting average at .225 while his five pitching victories this season are second most in school history.

At the plate, Steinwagner led the Raiders in hitting this year with an average of .447, fourth best all-time.

Senior Derek Krumrei put his name in the record books in three different career categories. His 46 runs scored are third best all-time and his eight career doubles ties him for fifth while his 48 hits are fifth-best in school history.

Christensen, who set a new Raider record for most doubles in a season with seven, was named the team’s MVP this season while Pearson and sophomore Mike Hommes were named Co-Defensive Players of the Year.

Steinwagner earned the Outstanding Pitcher Award and sophomore Austin Evenson was named the Most Improved Player.

Several Raiders were also recognized for their work in the classroom this season. Senior Brian DePauw earned the team’s Academic Award and was joined by Krumrei, senior Jon Stoffer, senior Andrew Entenza, senior Ben Johnson and junior Drew Pheneger as 2011 Academic All Conference honorees.

Tags: sports, baseball, raiders, prep