Baseball

MIAC announces 2025 Baseball Awards

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – With the 2025 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) season in the books, the conference announced its annual baseball awards on Tuesday.

Saint John's third baseman Joe Becker and St. Olaf shortstop Mason Buck shared MIAC Max Molock Player of the Year honors, while Gustavus senior left-hander Adam Biewen was selected as the Mike Augustin Pitcher of the Year, and Bethel first-year second baseman and designated hitter Hayden Sperbeck earned MIAC Rookie of the Year honors. Gustavus head coach Brad Baker was recognized by his peers as the 2025 Jim Dimick Coach of the Year.

Becker (New Prague, Minn.) was voted a co-recipient of the Max Molock Player of the Year award after batting .400 in conference games and leading all MIAC players in slugging percentage (.933), on-base percentage (.566), home runs (9), and walks (19). The most statistically prolific hitter in program history, Becker became the Johnnies' all-time leader in total bases (401), hits (223), RBI (178), runs scored (174), doubles (48), and home runs (36) in 2025. Becker is the fourth Johnnie since at least 1978 to be named the Max Molock Player of the Year, and the first to do so since Wyatt Ulrich in 2017.

Buck (Afton, Minn. | Stillwater) was voted a co-recipient of the Max Molock Player of the Year award after batting .435 and collecting 30 hits in 2025 conference contests. Buck tallied at least one multi-hit game against ten MIAC squads as a junior, and led all MIAC shortstops with a fielding percentage of .986 in league play. He is the sixth Ole since 1982 to receive MIAC Baseball Player of the Year honors and the second in a row, joining former teammate and 2024 recipient Sam Lavin.

Biewen (Golden Valley, Minn. | Robbinsdale Armstrong) was selected as the Mike Augustin Pitcher of the Year after posting an earned run average of 1.50 and striking out a league-best 44 batters in 2025. The senior southpaw held MIAC opponents to a .174 batting average and managed a conference-high 13 called strike-threes on the year. He joins teammate and 2023 recipient Mitch Casperson as Gusties to be selected for the Mike Augustin Pitcher of the Year award.

Sperbeck (Arden Hills, Minn.) was named MIAC Rookie of the Year after batting .352 and collecting multiple hits against ten conference opponents in his debut season. Sperbeck led all first-year players with 25 hits in 2025. He is the second Royal in program history to be named MIAC Rookie of the Year, joining 2015 recipient Esteban Velasco.

Baker (eleventh season) was celebrated by his peers as the MIAC Baseball Jim Dimick Coach of the Year for the second time in his career after guiding the Gusties to the 16th regular-season MIAC title in program history in 2025. After voting was completed, Baker's Gusties went on to claim the MIAC Baseball Playoff championship for the first time to secure the program's first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament. Baker was previously recognized as the MIAC Jim Dimick Coach of the Year in 2019.

In addition to individual awards, MIAC coaches also selected 33 players to the All-Conference Team, with 18 more receiving honorable mention distinction. All awards were nominated by and voted on by the eleven MIAC head baseball coaches, and only statistics from regular-season MIAC contests were considered for conference honors; any nominated player not selected as All-Conference but still receiving votes from at least three coaches was named honorable mention.

Thirteen players named All-Conference in 2025 had previously received the honor at least once before. Five players - Concordia's Thomas Horan, Gustavus' Adam Biewen and Chris Knowles, Saint John's Joe Becker, and St. Scholastica's Jake Schelonka - were selected All-MIAC for the third time, a feat achieved by 87 players in recorded conference history.

The MIAC also announced the All-Playoff Team for baseball, which recognized the top eleven performers from the conference tournament, as selected by playoff-participant head coaches.

| 2025 MIAC Baseball Awards |