 EVANSVILLE – University of Evansville baseball stars Josh Jyawook and Boomer Synek each owned some of the top batting averages in Missouri Valley Conference play this season, and they were honored as such on Tuesday as the duo as well as Trey Hair picked up all-conference honors.
“It’s just great to see three deserving men get rewarded with an honor like this,†UE head coach Wes Carroll said. “Boomer was asked to change position late in his career, and to see him take to it like this has been really special. Josh got off to a slow start to the season, but it was great to see him pick it up in conference play, and Trey lived up to the really high expectations we had for him coming into the year.â€
Synek, who hit .383 in league games this season, was a star both offensively and defensively for the Aces. The senior out of Northbrook, Ill., finished the regular season with a team-best .343 average with 34 scores, 38 runs batted in and a career-best five home runs. He also posted the team lead in walks with 27 as well as a .439 on-base mark. Behind the plate, the first-year catcher picked off a league-best 13 base runners and caught 19 stealing.
Jyawook also caught fire in league games, hitting .352, which ranks fourth in the MVC. Overall, the senior posted a .305 average with 11 doubles and three homers. The only UE player to earn a preseason All-MVC nod, he finished the regular season with 32 scores while knocking in another 34.
UE was one of four schools to place multiple players onto the all-conference first team.
Hair boasted of the second-best average on the team, hitting .335 with 20 doubles. The junior out of Firth, Neb., also homered eight times and scored 39 runs to wrap up his first regular season at UE.
The trio as well as the rest of the Aces baseball team will begin play at the Missouri Valley Conference Championship at 8 a.m. Central time on Wednesday in Terre Haute.
