Morehead State sophomore outfielder Niko Hulsizer was named the Ohio Valley Conference Baseball Co-Player of the Year and to the all-conference first team, while five others earned spots on the league's all-conference teams.
Hulsizer is the ninth player in program history to earn the conference's highest honor, this year sharing the accolade with Eastern Kentucky's Ben Fisher. He is also the second MSU athlete to earn the honor in the last three seasons, joining Chris Robinson in 2015.
Junior third baseman Eli Boggess and junior left-handed pitcher Aaron Leasher were also named to the first team as the Eagles boasted the highest number of players named first team. Senior rightfielder/first baseman Will Schneider and sophomore shortstop Reid Leonard were tabbed to the second team, and right-handed pitcher Jake Ziegelmeyer was on the All-Freshmen Team.
Hulsizer, from Mohnton, Pa., had a memorable season in which he currently ranks in the top five nationally in home runs (24), total bases (178), RBI (74) and slugging percentage (.767). He led the OVC in RBI and total bases and also became the first player in program history to notch at least 20 home runs and 20 doubles in the same season. He also tops the team and ranks among the conference leaders with 64 runs scored.
Entering the OVC Tournament, Hulsizer needs just three more home runs to set Morehead State's and the OVC's single-season homer record, and he needs just 13 RBI and 15 total bases to set the league's single-season mark. Hulsizer has 26 multi-hit games and 16 multi-RBI games and recorded multiple home runs in five games. He had a seven-RBI game against West Virginia Tech this season and also had a trio of six-RBI efforts. Hulsizer was named OVC Player of the Week on April 3 and also won the Golden Spikes Award Gold Standard Performance of the Week honor that week.
After opening the season 1-for-18, Boggess (Versailles, Ky.) has been virtually unstoppable at the plate since. He leads the nation with a .434 batting average and has 82 hits. In conference play, Boggess batted .447 (51-for-114) with seven homers and six doubles. Overall, he leads all OVC third basemen in runs, hits, slugging percentage and on-base percentage. Boggess has 24 multiple-hit games and has multiple RBI nine times. He tied the Morehead State single-game record with six hits against Massachusetts.
Leasher, a native of Mt. Pleasant, Mich., is tied for the OVC lead with eight victories (8-3), and he ranks second among league pitchers in strikeouts (96) and innings pitched (85.1). Leasher sports a 4.22 earned run average, and opponents only hit .251 against him. He recorded 10 strikeouts in a season-best eight-inning effort against Alabama State and sat down eight Tennessee Tech batters in six innings. In his first three outings this year, he struck out 25 hitters and issued zero walks.
Schneider, also a second-team pick in 2016, leads the conference with 27 multiple-hit outings and has a team-best 85 hits in 2017. He leads all OVC outfielders in batting average (.385) and hits. Schneider, from Springfield, Ill., has scored 56 times and has 14 doubles and nine home runs. He also boasts a .597 slugging percentage. Schneider has played a majority of the season in right field but also started 14 games at first base.
Leonard, who hails from Glen Allen, Va., repeated as a second-team pick in 2017. He leads all OVC shortstops in batting average (.357) against conference pitching. Overall, Leonard is batting .339 with a team-high 21 doubles, which ranks among the top 10 in program history in season doubles. He also leads all OVC shortstops in hits, runs scored, doubles, RBI and on-base percentage. Leonard has 23 multi-hit games and 12 multiple-RBI performances.
Ziegelmeyer, who started in the Eagle bullpen but moved into the weekend rotation later, paced all OVC freshmen in victories with five. He sports a 5-1 record, which includes winning his last three league decisions. He also has two saves, both of which were 3+ inning efforts. Ziegelmeyer, a native of Union, Ky., struck out a career-best eight against Murray State at home.
Morehead State opens the OVC Tournament on Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET against either Austin Peay or UT Martin.
