Southeast Missouri State's Moses repeats as OVC baseball player of year

Trenton Moses added to his list of major accomplishments Tuesday.

Moses became the first Southeast Missouri State baseball player to be named Ohio Valley Conference player of the year twice.

Moses repeated his top OVC honor in voting by the league's coaches and sports information directors on the eve of the conference tournament in Jackson, Tenn.

The All-American senior third baseman is only the third OVC player to win multiple player of the year awards.

"That's a tremendous honor," Moses said. "You feel very honored to be considered up there with guys who have won it more than once."

Moses was among seven Southeast players to receive all-OVC recognition, the most among conference schools.

Joining Moses on the all-OVC first team is sophomore outfielder Derek Gibson.

Second-team selections are record-setting senior shortstop Kenton Parmley and junior starting pitcher Shae Simmons.

Redshirt freshman outfielders Andy Lennington and Jason Blum, along with true freshman DH Ryan Barnes, were voted to the OVC all-freshmen team.

"I'm so happy for all those guys. That's awesome. They earned it," Moses said.

Moses leads Division I in slugging (.802) and on-base percentage (.549). He also ranks third in home runs (19) and total bases (158) and fifth in batting average (.426).

The Advance High School graduate also leads the OVC in runs (58) and is second in RBIs (59), walks (50) and being hit by pitch (17). He was just one RBI shy of becoming the first OVC player to win the league's Triple Crown since 1982.

Moses has reached base safely in all 55 games to extend his school-record streak dating back to last year to 75 consecutive games.

Gibson, whose 29-game hitting streak earlier in the season is the conference's second-longest this year, ranks among the league's top 15 in batting average at .333. The native of Bonne Terre, Mo., has seven homers and 38 RBIs, including 31 RBIs in OVC play to rank tied for third in the league.

Parmley, who is the league's fifth-leading hitter with a .366 average, made history this season with an OVC-record 47-game hitting streak that is tied for the third-longest in Division I.

Parmley ranks among the OVC's top five and the nation's top 30 in hits (83) and total bases (131). He has 11 homers and 38 RBIs.

The Goreville, Ill., native recently set school records for career hits (296) and at-bats (864). He has started 213 games to rank second all-time at Southeast.

Parmley also was named Tuesday as one of 25 finalists for the Brooks Wallace Award that goes to the nation's top shortstop. He joins Eastern Kentucky's Richie Rodriguez as finalists from the OVC. Rodriguez beat out Parmley for all-OVC first-team shortstop

Simmons, who is 6-4 with a 4.74 ERA, is tied for the OVC lead in wins during conference games. The Scott City High School graduate leads the league in strikeouts, averaging 10.22 per nine innings.

Lennington, from Brentwood, Tenn., is batting .287 with 10 doubles, three homers and 29 RBIs.

Blum, from Ste. Genevieve, Mo., is batting .238 with 12 doubles, one triple, one homer and 20 RBIs. He hit .274 in conference play.

Barnes, a St. Louis native, is batting .241 with four homers, eight doubles and 23 RBIs. He hit .265 in league games.

Other top individual OVC honors went to Eastern Kentucky senior Matt Fyffe (pitcher of the year), Eastern Illinois freshman third baseman Brant Valach (rookie of the year) and Eastern Kentucky's Jason Stein (coach of the year).