EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Evansville freshman pitcher Kenton Deverman headlined a quartet of Purple Aces who earned all-Missouri Valley Conference honors on Monday night at the MVC Tournament banquet, as Deverman captured the league’s Freshman of the Year Award. He is the second Purple Ace to earn the honor, joining former UE standout Eric Stamets.
Deverman captured the MVC Freshman of the Year award and earned first-team all-Valley honors. He was joined on the MVC’s all-conference first team by graduate outfielder Mark Shallenberger. Senior outfielder Kip Fougerousse and senior pitcher Shane Harris both captured honorable mention all-MVC honors as well.
Deverman was named the Valley’s Freshman of the Year after going ranking fourth in the nation in victories among freshmen with seven, while leading the league in both ERA (3.53) and innings pitched (89.1). He went a perfect 5-0 in Valley play, and he left the mound with the lead in all nine MVC starts this year.
Shallenberger, meanwhile, earned first team all-Valley honors and was tied for second in the voting for MVC Player of the Year after ranking among the Valley’s top 10 in ten different offensive categories. Shallenberger will bring a team-best .382 batting average, 15 home runs and 55 RBI into this week’s MVC Tournament, which will be hosted at UE’s German American Bank Field at Charles H. Braun Stadium.
Fougerousse captured honorable mention all-MVC honors for a year in which he hit .336 with 18 doubles, 14 home runs and 49 RBI. It marks the second-straight year in which he was named all-MVC, as he earned first-team all-Valley honors last year at second base. Harris garnered honorable mention all-Valley honors after tying for third in the league with six victories, and ranking fourth overall with a 3.84 ERA. Harris held opposing batters to just a .236 batting average against, while striking out a career-high 60 men.
Evansville will bring a 31-23 overall record into this week’s MVC Tournament. The tournament will officially begin on Tuesday afternoon at German American Bank Field, as No. 5 UIC will battle No. 8 Missouri State at 2:30 p.m. and No. 6 Southern Illinois will square off with No. 7 Belmont at 6 p.m. UE’s MVC Tournament trek will begin on Wednesday morning at 9 a.m. against No. 4 Illinois State. Tickets for the MVC Tournament are available on-line at GoPurpleAces.com under the ticket link, or by phone by calling Logan Belz in the UE Athletic Ticket Office by phone at 812-488-2623.
