The Missouri Valley Conference announced its 2022 baseball award winners Tuesday and the regular-season champion Southern Illinois Salukis took home a bevy of honors.
In addition to seven All-MVC accolades, junior shortstop Kaeber Rog was named both the Joe Carter Player of the Year and the league’s Newcomer of the Year. Rog is just the second player in Valley history, and first since Dallas Baptist’s Derick Hall in 2016, to earn both honors in the same season.
Rog, J.T. Weber and Matthew Steidl all claimed spots on the All-MVC First Team, while Ryan Rodriguez, Trey McDaniel and Grey Epps earned All-MVC Second Team recognition. Nathan Bandy, meanwhile, was an All-MVC Honorable Mention selection.
Rog is just the fourth Saluki to earn the Valley’s Joe Carter Player of the Year honor, and first since P.J. Finigan in 2005. He is also the first Saluki since Toby Barrett in 2002 to earn MVC Newcomer of the Year honors.
The Willemstad, Curacao native had a spectacular first season for the Salukis in which he hit a league-best .405 in conference play and finished sixth or higher in the Valley in batting average (.374), hits (83), home runs (13), runs scored (47) and RBI (51). One of only two Salukis to start all 54 games, Rog’s 83 hits are the 10th-most in a single-season in program history.
Weber earned his second-straight All-MVC nod after he led the league in runs scored and finished second in both hits (79) and slugging percentage (.659). He also finished top-10 in the league in four additional statistical categories which included third in home runs (18), tied for third in RBI (52), fifth in on-base percentage (.442) and seventh in batting average (.359). The Metropolis, Ill. native set the program record for single-season home runs (18) and tallied 22 multi-hit games.
Steidl was the third Saluki named to the All-MVC First Team, which marked the first such honor for the Gallatin, Tenn. product. Steidl has been dominant out of the bullpen all season long for the Salukis. The right-handed hurler went 6-2 with a 2.54 ERA with six saves in 27 appearances. He finished top-five in the league in earned run average (2nd; 2.54), strikeouts (4th; 81), wins (T-5th; 6), saves (3rd; 6) and appearances (2nd; 27).
Ryan Rodriguez earned his first career all-conference honor after he claimed a spot on the All-MVC Second Team. The Cathedral City, Calif. native hit .298 with a .427 slugging percentage in his first full season as a Saluki. He tallied 10 doubles, four home runs and 33 RBI. He also did significant damage at the dish in MVC play, as he sported a .310 batting average in league games with eight of his 10 doubles coming against Valley foes.
Grey Epps also earned the first All-MVC recognition of his career with a nod to the Second Team. The fifth-year senior saved his best for last, as he set offensive career-highs in nearly every statistical category. The Clarksville, Tenn. native slashed .274/.531/.393 with eight doubles, a triple, 12 home runs and 47 RBI. He finished fourth in the league in runs scored (48), sixth in RBI (47) and tied for seventh in home runs (12). Defensively, Epps was terrific at second base, as he finished third in the league in assists (135) and seventh in double plays turned (25).
Trey McDaniel earned his third-straight All-MVC Second Team honor in his final season as a Saluki. McDaniel tied for the league-lead in wins and sports an 8-1 record in 23 appearances. The Williamsville, Mo. native finished with the fifth-best ERA in the Valley at 3.72 and his four saves, as well as his 23 appearances, were tied for the sixth-most in the league.
Bandy was named to the Honorable Mention team after he put together a solid first season as a Saluki. The Mountain Home, Ark. native hit .337 with a .410 on-base percentage. He tallied eight doubles, a triple and a pair of home runs and had a 28-game reached base streak, which was tied for fourth longest streak in school history.
The Salukis play their first game at the 2022 MVC Tournament on Wednesday, May 25 at 11 a.m. and will be broadcast on Magic 95.1 FM, starting at 10:40 a.m.