Baseball
2007 All-Conference Team

(Lebanon, Ill.) – Missouri Baptist University posted a 4-1 victory against William Woods University in the title game of the 2007 American Midwest Conference Tournament Monday in St. Louis, Mo. The victory gives the Spartans their first conference tournament championship since 1999. By qualifying for Monday's AMC Tournament title game, both Missouri Baptist and William Woods have earned automatic bids to the NAIA Region V Tournament, which begins on Wednesday, May 9 at Lou Brock Stadium on the campus of Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Mo.

In a vote by the league's six head coaches, Daniel Hartman of Harris-Stowe State University has been selected as the 2007 American Midwest Conference Player of the Year. Hartman, a junior shortstop from Sylmar, Calif., batted .399 with 13 home runs and 55 runs batted in to lead the Hornets to an 11-9 record and the No. 2 seed in this year's AMC Tournament. Hartman also added 13 doubles and six triples in his first season at Harris-Stowe.

In addition to earning AMC Player of the Year accolades, Hartman is a co-recipient of the conference's Newcomer of the Year award. He will share the honor with Brandon Patek of Missouri Baptist University. Patek, a junior outfielder from Festus, Mo., collected a .409 batting average with 14 home runs and 51 RBI. Patek chipped in with six doubles and three triples along with 50 runs scored for the Spartans.

The 2007 AMC Pitcher of the Year is Matt Murray of Missouri Baptist University. Murray, a junior right-hander from Ballwin, Mo., posted an 8-0 record with an earned-run average of 1.64 during the regular season. Murray tossed five complete games in his 10 appearances, and struck out 41 batters in his 55 innings of work. Murray also limited opponents to a .224 batting average in 2007.

Travis Parker of Harris-Stowe State University is the 2007 AMC Freshman of the Year. Parker, a third baseman from O'Fallon, Mo., batted. 327 with 10 doubles, two triples and 17 RBI in his rookie season with the Hornets.

The 2007 AMC Coach of the Year award will be shared by Eddie Uschold of Missouri Baptist University and Jonathan Estes of Harris-Stowe State University. Uschold, now in his eighth season at Missouri Baptist, guided the Spartans to their fourth AMC regular-season title since 2002. During the final week of the 2007 regular-season, Uschold joined the 300-win club, and took a 300-169-1 record at Missouri Baptist into the AMC Tournament. Estes, in his first season at the helm of the Harris-Stowe program, led his team to a 22-26 regular-season record. The Hornets battled their way to the No. 2 seed in this year's AMC Tournament by posting an 11-9 mark in league play.

A complete list of the 2007 AMC All-Conference team, the honorable mention squad and the Academic All-Conference team, is included on the following pages. The conference also recognized the inaugural members of the AMC All-Defensive Team, which honors the top defensive players at their respective positions. Members of the Academic All-Conference team have earned at least a cumulative 3.0 grade point average on a 4.0 scale.

- AMC -

2007 AMC All-Conference Team
Baseball

First Team All-Conference

2007 AMC All-Defensive Team

2007 American Midwest Conference
Academic All-Conference Team