CEDAR
RAPIDS, IOWA . . . The Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) announced today its All-Conference Teams and major awards for the 2010 baseball season. Buena Vista University senior outfielder Brandon Pietrzyk (Portland, Ore./Marshall) has been named the 2010 IIAC Baseball Position Player of the Year, Coe College senior Alec Lewis (Mesa, Ariz./Red Mountain) has been named the 2010 IIAC Baseball Pitcher of the Year and Buena Vista University head coach Steve Eddie has been named 2010 IIAC Baseball Coach of the Year.
Pietrzyk, a Second Team d3baseball.com and ABCA All-American last year, enters the NCAA Regional Tournament hitting .374 with 55 hits, 15 doubles, two triples, seven home runs, 54 runs scored, 56 RBI, and 23 stolen bases. He has also posted a .646 slugging and a .424 on-base percentage in 39 games. He currently leads all IIAC players in RBIs, sacrifice flies (6), and stolen bases, ranks second in runs scored, fifth in doubles, seventh in slugging percentage, eighth in home runs, and 12th in batting average. He has also converted 66 of 69 attempts in the field successfully for a .957 fielding percentage.
In 23 Iowa Conference games, Pietrzyk hit .443 with 39 hits, 13 doubles, two doubles, four home runs, 42 RBI, 35 runs scored, and 13 stolen bases. He led the league in runs scored, RBI, doubles, sacrifice flies (5), and stolen bases, ranked second in batting average, hits, and total bases (68), third in slugging percentage (.773) and triples, 10th in home runs (4), and 13th in on-base percentage (.455).
Pietrzyk has also etched his named into both the Buena Vista and Iowa Conference record books. This season, he set the Buena Vista single-season record for runs and tied the mark for sacrifice flies. Pietrzyk also owns BVU's career records for stolen bases (57) and stolen base attempts (62). In addition, he – along with Dubuque's Andrew Danna – broke the IIAC single-season mark for doubles with 13. The old mark of 12 had been set in 1987 by Buena Vista's Todd Candor and then tied last season by Wartburg's Mike Johnson.
Lewis was Coe's leading pitcher throughout the season, posting an 11-0 record with a 3.42 ERA, 91 strikeouts, eight complete games, four shutouts, and one save in 94 2/3 innings. Opponents hit only .260 off him all year. He led all IIAC pitchers in innings pitched, wins, and strikeouts, while ranking fourth in ERA and opposing batting average. He also posted a .917 fielding percentage, making only three errors in 36 chances.
Appearing in nine conference games (all starts), he posted a 7-0 mark with a 3.47 ERA, six complete games, four shutouts, and 66 strikeouts in 62 1/3 innings. He led the league in innings pitched, victories, and strikeouts – tying the IIAC record for strikeouts originally set by William Penn's Sani Bozunovich in 1995. He also ranked fourth in ERA and fifth in opposing batting average (.248).
During the course of the season, Lewis rewrote major portions of the Coe record book, breaking the career marks for appearances (57), innings pitched (290 1/3), pitching wins (24), and strikeouts (249), as well as setting single-season marks for innings pitched, wins, and strikeouts. The single-season and career wins records had stood since 1978 and 1979, respectively, while the single-season strikeout record had been on the books since 1993.
Eddie guided Buena Vista to its first Iowa Conference baseball title and first NCAA appearance since 1981 and BVU's first IIAC Tournament title. The Beavers finished Conference play atop the standings with a 20-4 record, marking only the seventh time a team has reached 20 wins in league play. The Beavers went 3-0 at the Iowa Conference tournament and take a 29-11 record into this week's NCAA regional tournament. The 29 wins represent a school record. During the IIAC season, the Beavers pulled the statistical hat trick, leading the league in batting (.374), earned-run average (3.36), and fielding percentage (.967). This is Eddie's second career IIAC Coach of the Year honor, previously winning in 2002 when he led the Beavers to a tie for second place after finishing 10th in the league the prior season.
The IIAC also announced today the 2010 Baseball All-Conference Team. The 34-member Team includes 17 repeat All-Conference performers including Pietrzyk, who was honored for the third time. IIAC regular season and tournament champion Buena Vista led all schools with an IIAC-best eight All-Conference performers, including six on the First Team plus Pietrzyk as Position Player of the Year. Central, which finished third in the league, was next on the list with seven All-Conference selections, all to the Second Team. Coe and Wartburg each had five All-Conference selections, with four Knights finding the First Team. Coe had two First Team picks and two Second Team picks in addition to Pitcher of the Year Lewis. Luther and Simpson each had two First Team selections.
