2010 ALL-MIAC BASEBALL TEAM

MINNEAPOLIS -- Five Augsburg College baseball players earned various All-Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference honors, it was announced this week.

Catcher Craig Henry (SR, Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial HS), pitcher Kristofer Ozga (JR, Hawthorn Woods, Ill./Stevenson HS) and first-baseman Joe Pierce (SR, Eden Prairie, Minn.) earned All-MIAC recognition, while pitcher Mark Heise (JR, Foley, Minn.) was named to the MIAC All-Defensive Team and outfielder Derek Williamson (SR, St. Francis, Minn.) was named to the All-MIAC Sportsmanship Team.

Henry earned All-MIAC honors for the fourth straight season, one of only two MIAC seniors to earn All-MIAC first-team baseball honors each of their four years (Macalester's James Murrey is the other). Pierce earned All-MIAC honors for the second straight year.

Augsburg's cleanup hitter, Pierce had the best year of his Auggie career in 2010, hitting .455 with 55 hits, seven doubles, three triples, three home runs, 26 runs scored, and a team-best 40 RBI. He was the MIAC's batting-average leader in overall play, while standing second in conference games-only with a .482 average. In MIAC overall statistics, Pierce stood second in both slugging percentage (.636) and on-base percentage (.518), and his RBI total was fourth-best. Pierce struck out just five times in 141 plate appearances this season. Defensively, he had just one error in 237 chances for a .996 fielding percentage.

During the season, Pierce had a 32-game hitting streak -- the second-longest consecutive-game hitting streak among any NCAA Division III player this season and the 16th-longest streak in Division III history. Pierce had 18 multiple-hit games and 12 multiple-RBI games this season.

In his Augsburg career (74 games, 72 starts), Pierce finished with a .433 batting average (103-of-238), with 55 runs scored, 22 doubles, four triples, five home runs, 73 RBI, a .622 slugging percentage and a .504 on-base percentage. He struck out just 18 times in 276 plate appearances. He finished his career with a .990 fielding percentage, with just five errors in 477 defensive chances.

Henry finished second on the team in hitting with a .388 average, with team highs in hits (59) and doubles (13). He also had 35 runs scored, a triple, three home runs, 35 RBI, a .546 slugging percentage and a .439 on-base percentage.

For the third straight season, Henry led the MIAC in throwing out runners trying to steal, with 22 throw-outs in 83 attempts this season. In league games-only, Henry threw out a conference-best 12 runners in 37 attempts. In his career, Henry threw out 67 runners trying to steal in 209 attempts (32 percent), including 42 of 123 attempts in MIAC games-only.

In his four-year career (147 starts in 148 games), Henry finished with a .378 career batting average (186-of-492), with 121 runs scored, 47 doubles, nine triples, seven home runs, 98 RBI, a .553 slugging percentage and a .436 on-base percentage.

In his second season with the Auggies after transferring from Central (Iowa), Ozga shined as both a starter and reliever, posting a 4-4 record with four saves and a 4.47 earned-run average. After starting the year as a starter, he was converted to a reliever late in the year, coming in from the bullpen in eight of the Auggies' final 10 games.

In 21 pitching appearances (10 starts) and a team-best 58.1 innings pitched, Ozga struck out 31 while walking 39, while allowing a .288 opponent batting average, the second-lowest opponent batting average on the team.

In two years at Augsburg (34 appearances, 19 starts), Ozga has a 7-10 record with four saves in 110.2 innings pitched. He has a 3.98 ERA in his two Auggie seasons, with 85 strikeouts against 60 walks and a .272 opponent batting average.

Heise was named to the MIAC All-Defensive Team, the first year that the conference has given the award in baseball. Defensively, Heise posted a .947 fielding percentage, with just one error in 19 chances. While on the mound, six runners were caught trying to steal in 15 attempts, with one pickoff.

In 47.2 innings pitched this season in 17 appearances (eight starts), Heise had a 3-3 record with a 4.53 ERA, with 13 strikeouts against 23 walks and a .316 opponent batting average. In his Auggie career (31 appearances, nine starts, 67.1 innings pitched), Heise has a 5-3 record with a 4.95 ERA and 28 strikeouts against 32 walks and a .313 opponent batting average.

Williamson was named to the All-MIAC Sportsmanship Team. As a part of the conference's sportsmanship initiative, members of the All-MIAC Sportsmanship Team are selected by their coaches and teammates as individuals who demonstrate ideals of positive sportsmanship both on and off the field of competition.

Returning to the Auggie roster after a year's absence, Williamson appeared in 16 games with a .273 average, with four runs scored, two RBI and a double. In his two seasons as an Auggie (49 games, 41 starts), Williamson had a .287 batting average with 26 runs scored, 11 doubles, three triples, two home runs and 26 RBI.

Under seventh-year head coach Keith Bateman, Augsburg finished the 2010 season with a 21-22 record, 12-8 in MIAC play. The Auggies finished in fourth place in the MIAC standings, earning a trip to the conference postseason playoffs for the second time in school history. Augsburg won its first two games in the MIAC postseason to reach the playoff finals, but fell twice to regular-season champ and defending national champ St. Thomas.

Augsburg's baseball team has experienced a revival of fortunes in the seven seasons under Bateman. His teams have recorded 16 or more wins in each of his seven seasons at Augsburg, including this year's finish. The 2005 MIAC Co-Coach of the Year, Bateman is 133-139-1 in his seven seasons at Augsburg.