2010 ABCA DIVISION III ALL-MIDWEST REGION BASEBALL TEAM

MINNEAPOLIS -- Augsburg College baseball players Joe Pierce (SR, Eden Prairie, Minn.) and Craig Henry (SR, Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial HS) were named to the American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings Division III All-Midwest Region Baseball Team, it was announced recently.

Pierce earned first-team recognition at first base, while Henry was selected as a second-team catcher. It is Henry's second selection to the all-region squad, also earning second-team honors in 2009. Pierce was named to the all-region team for the first time in his career.

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 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference'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.

In addition to his all-region honor this season, Pierce was named to the All-MIAC squad in both 2009 and 2010.

Henry's all-region honor for the second straight year is the latest of his many honors. Henry was also named to the All-MIAC squad for the fourth straight year, as one of just two MIAC seniors this year to earn All-MIAC first-team honors each of their four seasons. A finance/accounting major with a 3.47 grade-point average, Henry also earned ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District honors this season.

In 2010, 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.

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.