Baseball 6/4/2012 5:11:00 PM

OCU's Beltran recognized as NAIA player of year

Beltran, Carman, Hawkins, Phillips become all-Americans

Miguel Beltran amassed a .367 batting average with 40 home runs and 142 RBIs in his two-year Stars career.

OKLAHOMA CITY – Miguel Beltran of Oklahoma City University has been chosen NAIA baseball player of the year.
Beltran, who led college baseball in home runs this year, headlined a group of four Stars named all-Americans. Chad Carman and Dane Phillips joined Beltran as first-team all-Americans, while Rich Hawkins took honorable mention.
Beltran made it two years in a row OCU had the NAIA baseball player of the year. Beltran became the seventh from OCU awarded the honor, joining past honorees Allen Thompson in 1994, Mario Delgado in 2001, Ted Ledbetter in 2004, Nick Klusaw in 2005, Brent Weaver in 2009 and Kirk Walker in 2011.
Carman made the NAIA Gold Glove team for the second year in a row and picked up the Hank Burbridge Champions of Character player award for the NAIA World Series. Carman and Brian Fisher were also recognized as NAIA scholar-athlete award winners for the second consecutive year. Those on the list maintained a cumulative 3.50 grade-point average while being a junior or senior member of an NAIA-affiliated baseball team.
Beltran, a senior first baseman from Long Beach, Calif., topped the NAIA with 27 homers, 181 total bases and an .826 slugging percentage this season. Beltran hit .388 with 63 runs scored, 85 hits, 15 doubles and 76 RBIs while compiling a .996 fielding percentage. He had five multi-homer games.
As a senior, Beltran became Sooner Athletic Conference player of the year and a two-time all-SAC choice. He hit .367 with 40 homers and 142 RBIs in his two-year OCU career.
Carman, a senior catcher-outfielder from Midwest City, Okla., became a two-time all-American after hitting .383 with 19 doubles, two triples, 11 homers, 50 RBIs while ranking 13th in the NAIA with 88 hits. He finished the year on a 15-game hitting streak. Carman posted a .991 fielding percentage, limiting himself to three errors in 336 chances this year.
From his junior to senior seasons, Carman went 59 games without an error, handling 425 errorless chances in that span. He hit .378 with 30 homers and 165 RBIs in his four-year OCU career while becoming one of two Stars along with Fisher to be a part of five NAIA World Series teams.
Phillips, a junior catcher-outfielder from Nacogdoches, Texas, posted an NAIA-high 26 doubles and an SAC-high .410 batting average. Phillips added 86 hits, three triples, 14 homers, 67 RBIs and a .985 fielding percentage. His .726 slugging percentage ranked fifth in the NAIA.
A first-team all-league performer, Phillips doubled three times at Oklahoma Baptist on March 24 and drove in four runs four times this year.
Hawkins, a senior left-handed pitcher from Edmond, Okla., led the NAIA with 12 wins this year while finishing as OCU's career leader in earned run average (2.01), beating Chris Schroder's 2.16 career mark. Hawkins went 12-2 with a 1.99 ERA, seven complete games, two shutouts, 13 walks and 90 strikeouts in 108.1 innings pitched as a senior.
Fisher, a senior second baseman from Spring, Texas, was a two-time SAC gold glover and NAIA scholar-athlete award winner. Fisher hit .273 with six homers and 43 RBIs while finishing his OCU career with a .329 batting average.
The Stars went 48-12, captured the SAC regular-season title, won an NAIA Championship Opening-Round Tournament for the fifth year in a row and advanced to the NAIA World Series for the fifth consecutive time.
OCU owns 1,118 wins since 1991 for the most in college baseball during that time.

NAIA All-Americans
FIRST TEAM
Pitchers: Rey Rodriguez, Robert Morris (Ill.); Chris Thomas, Avila (Mo.); Jared Mortenson, LSU-Shreveport; Kris Hall, Lee (Tenn.).
Relief Pitcher: Dane Stone, St. Thomas (Fla.).
Catcher: Chad Carman, Oklahoma City.
Infield: Miguel Beltran, 1b, Oklahoma City; Blake Barber, 2b, Lee; Adam McCormick, 3b, Tabor (Kan.); Stephen Branca, SS, Tennessee Wesleyan.
Outfield: Kyle Pearson, LSU-Shreveport; Izaac Garsez, College of Idaho; Matt Kimmel, Azusa Pacific (Calif.); Dane Phillips, Oklahoma City.
Utility: Daniel Baptista, Oklahoma Baptist.
Designated Hitter: Corey Davis, Lee.
SECOND TEAM
Pitchers: Tyler Arthur, Georgetown (Ky.); Corey Black, Faulkner; Michael Heesch, South Carolina-Beaufort; Cody Hall, Auburn-Montgomery (Ala.).
Relief Pitcher: Chad Richie, Georgetown.
Catcher: Ched Gaskin, Purdue-North Central (Ind.).
Infield: Jordan Leyland, 1b, Azusa Pacific; Art Corona, 2b, Tabor; Taylor Oldham, 3b, Tennessee Wesleyan; Craig Massey, SS, Faulkner (Ala.).
Outfield: Tanner Moore, Bellevue (Neb.); Michael Mendoza, Iowa Wesleyan; Joel Capote, St. Thomas; Cory Ford, Oklahoma Wesleyan.
Utility: Richard Bohlken, Lubbock Christian (Texas).
Designated Hitter: Karl Seiter, Lubbock Christian.
HONORABLE MENTION
Rich Hawkins, Oklahoma City.

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