ABCA All-Midwest Region Teams
WINONA, Minn. — Less than 12 hours after earning D3baseball.com First-Team All-Midwest Region honors, Saint Mary's University of Minnesota's
Ben Buerkle was back in the post-season spotlight—and this time, the Cardinal senior brought along some company.
For the second time Tuesday, Buerkle was named All-Midwest Region—this time earning American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Rawlings Second-Team honors—while fellow senior
Bob Kinne (St. Paul, Minn.) was a Third-Team selection.
It's the fourth straight year Buerkle has been recognized by ABCA/Rawlings—he was a Third-Team All-Midwest Region selection as a freshman in 2014, while landing Third-Team honors in 2015, and Second-Team honors a year ago.
Kinne, meanwhile, picked up his second All-Midwest Region Third-Team selection in as many seasons as a Cardinal.
In his final year in a Cardinal uniform, Buerkle started all 39 games—all in center field—hitting a team-leading .405 (53-for-153). He also led or shared the team lead in runs (39), hits (53), doubles (13), total bases (92), slugging percentage (.702), walks (31)—including 18 in his last 14 games—and on-base percentage (.524). Defensively, Buerkle was near-perfect from his position in center field, making just two errors in 112 chances (.982 fielding percentage), while collecting 105 putouts and adding five assists.
Buerkle, who opened each of his four collegiate seasons with hits in at least 10 consecutive games, was held off the base paths just twice this season—failing to reach base in Game 1 against UW-Oshkosh on April 2 and in Game 2 vs. St. Thomas on April 13. Buerkle recorded at least one hit in 30 of the team's 39 games this season and closed out his career having collected at least one hit in 140 of the 158 games he played in—while reaching base safely in 153 of those 158 games.
Buerkle concluded his four-year Saint Mary's career as the program's all-time hits leader with 233, while also owning career records in doubles (51), triples (13), runs (162), RBIs (150), and games played (158). Just one of two players in program history with more than 200 career hits—and the only one with 50 or more hits in all four seasons—Buerkle's .413 career batting average is second only to Tim Piechowski's program-record .417 mark.
Kinne also enjoyed a memorable senior season for the Cardinals, hitting .353 (47-for-133) in 37 games—all starts. Kinne, named to the All-Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference First-Team for the second straight year earlier this month, delivered 11 doubles, one home run, 29 RBIs, 11 walks and a perfect 13-for-13 showing in stolen base attempts this season.
Kinne, who set a single-season school record with 50 RBIs during his junior season in 2016, led the 2017 Cardinals with 17 multiple-hit games—one more than Buerkle—while sharing the team lead in multiple-RBI games with eight. Defensively, Kinne was as impressive in right field as Buerkle was in center, committing just one error in 86 chances, collecting 80 putouts and five assists.
Concordia-Chicago's Bryan VanDuser was named the Midwest Region's Position Player of the Year, while UW-Whitewater's Heath Renz was selected Pitcher of the Year.
The ABCA/Rawlings All-Region teams are voted on by members of the American Baseball Coaches Association. ABCA/Rawlings All-Region First-Team selections are eligible for ABCA/Rawlings All-America honors. ABCA/Rawlings All-Americans will be announced on the evening of Thursday, May 25. The ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove Team will be announced on Wednesday, June 21
