LOUISVILLE, Ky. — One of the most accomplished athletes in the history of the Bellarmine University baseball program has officially taken his place among the peerless players of the Great Lakes Valley Conference.

On Wednesday evening at the GLVC Tournament reception, the league announced Knights senior center fielder Austin Crutcher as the GLVC Player of the Year. The native of Lexington, Kentucky, becomes the third Bellarmine player to receive the acknowledgement after Scott Wiegandt — now BU's director of athletics — won in 1989 and Patrick Brady was honored in 2008.

"From day one this school year, he was the best all-around player in the GLVC," BU Coach Larry Owens said of Crutcher. "At this level, his tools are more than above average. He hits for average, hits for power, plays defense, runs and can throw. Austin is a dynamic, exciting player that we will not be able to replace. He has been a joy to watch play the past two seasons."

Crutcher also garnered first-team All-GLVC status for the third straight season, and several of his teammates have been recognized as well. Joining Crutcher on the first team from Bellarmine are junior third baseman Cole Metcalfe, junior pitcher Austin Warner and sophomore first baseman Nick Wright. In addition, freshman pitcher Eddie Mathis and junior left fielder Jes Staples reaped second-team All-GLVC notice.

Indianapolis' Matthew Kaplanis and Southern Indiana's Matt Chavarria received GLVC co-Pitcher of the Year accolades, Truman State's Kent Frantz earned Freshman of the Year recognition and Quincy's Josh Rabe gained Coach of the Year plaudits.

Crutcher capped the final regular season of his collegiate career by leading the GLVC in home runs (16), doubles (20), total bases (129) and slugging percentage (.733). The product of Tates Creek (Ky.) High School was second in the league in stolen bases (21) and runs scored (50) and tied for eighth in RBIs (39) while batting .335.

Crutcher is two home runs shy of tying BU's single-season record, highlighted by the three long balls he launched in the team's regular-season finale against McKendree. He racked up five homers overall against the Bearcats over the four-game series and captured the final GLVC Player of the Week award for the season.

Buoyed by his GLVC Player of the Year campaign, Crutcher continued his climb up the Bellarmine career record books. The two-time All-Midwest Region outfielder ranks third all-time in home runs (29) and hits (229) and is tied for third in stolen bases (71) while moving up to fifth in RBIs (130).

Metcalfe vaulted into standout status this season after leading the team with a .356 batting average. The native of Richmond, Kentucky, ranked third in the GLVC in doubles (17), ninth in total bases (94) and 10th in hits (64). He's cranked three home runs and driven in 37 while carrying a .522 slugging percentage.

"Cole has become a valuable member of our baseball team not only as a player but as a person," Owens said. "His improved ability to use the entire field opened up a whole new aspect of his game. He is another one of our players that possesses five above-average tools for this level of play. He is eager to learn, which makes him very coachable and his gritty play makes him a joy to watch."

Warner ranked second in the GLVC in strikeouts (71) while putting together a 6-3 record and 2.70 ERA in 12 starts. The Louisville native has tossed four complete games and yielded a mere two earned runs over his last five outings. On April 11, the southpaw fired a no-hitter in a 4-0 victory over Saint Joseph's, a performance that earned him GLVC co-Pitcher of the Week notice.

"Austin has come a long way the past two years," Owens said. "He has always had good stuff but early on in his career he lacked the control and command necessary to help us win. He worked very hard at doing the things he needs to do to not only produce strikes but command all of his pitches. For him, this is a much-deserved honor that most certainly was earned."

Wright has produced a .310 batting average with three homers, 14 doubles and 31 RBIs in a breakthrough campaign. The native of Indianapolis blistered a two-out, two-run walk-off homer to beat Indianapolis 4-3 on April 17. Five days later he tallied a walk-off RBI single in a 6-5 win over Trevecca Nazarene.

"Nick has put a ton of work into playing what some people think is a position for big, slow guys," Owens said. "Nothing could be further from the truth. Nick has improved immensely as a first baseman after getting thrown to the wolves last season. His footwork around the bag at first has made him an above-average defender at this level plus his ability to hit in the middle of our order with success makes him a great choice for this honor."

In his debut season, Mathis is leading the Knights and ranked third in the GLVC with a 2.29 ERA. The native of Pewee Valley, Kentucky, has amassed 58 strikeouts in 63.0 innings and thrown three complete games. He hurled a complete-game shutout in a 5-0 win over Lewis on April 5.

"Eddie probably has more pitch-ability than any pitcher on our staff," Owens said. "He is a fierce competitor who has a four-pitch mix. For Eddie to come into this league and compete at the level he has so far makes us very lucky to have him for three more years.  What a great honor for Eddie."

Staples is hitting .300 and ranked fifth in the GLVC in stolen bases (16). The native of Lexington has smacked 10 doubles, a triple and scored 29 runs. Staples put together an 11-game hitting streak that included five multi-hit outings in April that raised his batting average by 97 points.

"Of the five tools we like to look for, Jes has four very good ones," Owens said. "He hits for average, can run, play defense and can throw. He plays the game as hard as anyone can play it. He epitomizes the term 'leads by example'. He simply shuts his mouth and plays his heart out. We are fortunate to have a player like Jes on our team."

COMPLETE 2015 ALL-GLVC TEAMS