OZARK, Mo. — Junior left-hander Eddie Mathis was named Great Lakes Valley Conference Pitcher of the Year and joined eight of his Bellarmine University baseball teammates in setting a new program record as the Knights amassed nine All-GLVC selections, the league announced Wednesday evening.

Mathis, junior third baseman Josh Finerty, senior left fielder Griffin Neuer, senior second baseman Alex Ralph, senior left-hander Hunter Spencer and junior right fielder Zac Wiley all garnered first-team All-GLVC accolades from the league's East Division. Senior shortstop Drew Greenwood, sophomore right-hander Jacob Nagel and junior center fielder Alex Phillips each reaped second-team All-GLVC plaudits. Mathis and Finerty comprised half of the unanimous picks at their positions from the East.

Mathis technically is the third player in program history to receive GLVC Pitcher of the Year recognition after Michael Thompson (2009) and Spencer (2016) but for all practical purposes he's the fourth — left-handed hurler Scott Wiegandt, now Bellarmine's director of athletics, earned Player of the Year acknowledgement in 1989 before a separate Pitcher of the Year category had been established.

This is Mathis' third All-GLVC laurel and second straight first-team notice. The native of Pewee Valley, Kentucky, has compiled a 7-1 record with a 1.93 ERA and 79 strikeouts in 70.0 innings pitched. The southpaw hasn't lost since his season debut and, in his most recent performance, became the only pitcher in the GLVC to post a win against Illinois Springfield as he fired a complete game in a 6-3 victory. He yielded three earned runs or less in each of his last nine starts, holding opponents scoreless on four of those occasions.

Mathis topped the GLVC in ERA, tied for second in strikeouts, tied for third in wins and was also in the top 10 in innings pitched and opponent batting average. He walked a mere 11 batters in those 70.0 innings in the regular season.

Spencer appeared on the All-GLVC first team for the third consecutive year. The Scottsburg, Indiana, native is 5-2 with a 4.20 ERA and 48 strikeouts in 60.0 innings pitched. The southpaw has registered three complete games and a shutout.

Neuer and Wiley received promotions to the first team after reaping second-team honors last season. Neuer leads Bellarmine in homers (11), triples (four) and RBIs (47) while hitting .318. Wiley's .364 batting average is tops among the Knights with over 70 at-bats, and he's also pacing the team in doubles (16) while tallying eight home runs and 40 RBIs.

Ralph and Finerty received All-GLVC nods for the first time, both landing on the first team. Ralph is hitting .301 with five homers, 10 doubles, three triples and 28 RBIs while Finerty is batting .291 with six homers, 13 doubles and 41 RBIs.

Ralph, Finerty and Greenwood help anchor an infield that is perhaps among the best defensive units in the country. Greenwood reaped second-team All-GLVC accolades for the second year in a row and is hitting .338 with 13 doubles, three triples and team highs of 68 hits and 41 runs scored.

Phillips joined Greenwood on the second team for the second straight year while Nagel earned his first All-GLVC award. Phillips is hitting .330 with a team-high eight stolen bases. Nagel is 5-3 with a 4.44 ERA and 33 strikeouts in 48.2 innings pitched while registering two complete games.

Greenwood is Bellarmine's James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Award honoree. The Knights are 34-15 heading into the GLVC Tournament.

Individual awards in addition to Mathis went to Southern Indiana's Drake McNamara for Player of the Year and Bryce Krizan for Freshman of the Year, and Illinois Springfield's Chris Ramirez for Coach of the Year.

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FIRST TEAM ALL-GLVC – EAST DIVISION
MIKE ROTHMUND, Sr., 1B, UIS
Alex Ralph, Sr., 2B, BU
JOSH FINERTY, Jr., 3B, BU
Cole Taylor, Sr., SS, UIS
Nick Gobert, Sr., UT, USI
Nick Stokowski, Sr., DH, UIS
Logan Brown, Jr., C, USI
DRAKE MCNAMARA, Sr., OF, USI
Zac Wiley, Jr., OF, BU
Jack Schaaf, Sr., OF, UIS
Griffin Neuer, Sr., OF, BU
EDDIE MATHIS, Jr., SP, BU
Andrew Dean, Jr., SP, UIS
Justin Revels, Jr., SP, UIS
Hunter Spencer, Sr., SP, BU
Cam Zunkel, So., RP, UIS
 
SECOND TEAM ALL-GLVC – EAST DIVISION
Storm Joop, Sr., 1B, UINDY
Myles Hann, Sr., 2B, UIS*
Jake Fleming, Jr., 2B, USI*
Hunter Waning, So., 3B, UINDY
Drew Greenwood, Sr., SS, BU
John Sechen, Jr., UT, UIS
Dylan Jones, Sr., DH, UINDY
Ben Schanding, Jr., C, UIS
Connor Rutherford, Jr., OF, LEWIS
Kyle Orloff, Jr., OF, UINDY
Buddy Johnson, Sr., OF, USI
Alex Phillips, Jr., OF, BU
Peter Hamot, Jr., SP, LEWIS
Brayden Jensen, So., SP, UIS
Jacob Nagel, So., SP, BU
Nick Rana, R-Jr., SP, UWP
Colton Hale, Fr., RP, UIS
 
FIRST TEAM ALL-GLVC – WEST DIVISION
Charlie Kreh, Jr., 1B, TSU
Cody Birdsong, Jr., 2B, QU
DALTON SCHUMER, Sr., 3B, MU
Brynn Martinez, Sr., SS, QU
Henry Weiler, Sr., UT, RU
Brennan Williams, Sr., DH, MU
KK Daniel, Sr., C, DU
J.C. DEMURI, Sr., OF, QU
Chase Redick, Jr., OF, WJC
Chandler Purcell, Jr., OF, QU
Drake Lubin, Jr., OF, MU
Austin Simms, Sr., SP, DU
Dan Borek, Sr., SP, S&T
Nick Stroud, Jr., SP, QU
Brendan Beatty, Sr., SP, WJC
Cole Crawford, Sr., RP, QU
 
SECOND TEAM ALL-GLVC – WEST DIVISION
Louis Niemerg, Jr., 1B, MU
Brant Schaffitzel, Fr., 2B, DU
Matt Gruse, Jr., 3B, S&T
Ethan Owens, So., SS, DU
Conner Forsythe, Jr., UT, S&T
Michael Nielsen, So., DH, QU
Justus Nelson, Sr., C, S&T
Clayton Engel, So., OF, DU
Corbin Hare, Sr., OF, RU
Derrick Freeman, So., OF, UMSL
Caleb Essick, So., OF, DU 
Kevin Smith, Gr., SP, UMSL
Kent Frantz, Sr., SP, TSU
Thomas Tewes, Fr., SP, DU
Jim Brandt, Sr., SP, UMSL
Karl Hirsch, Jr., RP, QU
 
UNANIMOUS SELECTION IN ALL CAPS
*Additional member due to a tie
 
2018 GLVC PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Drake McNamara, Sr., OF, USI
2018 GLVC PITCHER OF THE YEAR: Eddie Mathis, Jr., SP, BU
2018 GLVC FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Bryce Krizan, OF, USI 
2018 GLVC COACH OF THE YEAR:  Chris Ramirez, UIS
 
2018 JAMES R. SPALDING SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD (BASEBALL)
Truman State
 
2018 JAMES R. SPALDING SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD HONOREES
Drew Greenwood, BU
Brant Schaffitzel, DU
Sam Geraci, UIS
Storm Joop, UINDY
Neal Tyrell, LEWIS
Tyler Catlett, MU
Andrew Aydt, MCK
Nathan Volkmann, S&T
Derrick Freeman, UMSL
Brynn Martinez, QU
Jeremy Lufft, RU
Devin Williams, USI
Peter Young, TSU
Santino Ruffolo, UWP
Robbie Colburn, WJC