Missouri State head baseball coach Keith Guttin announced the signing of Alex Jefferson to a National Letter of Intent to play for the Bears baseball program.
Alex Jefferson is a left handed pitcher/outfielder from Normal West HS who went 9-1 with a 1.23 ERA last year at Normal West. Jefferson also hit .418 with 14 doubles and 17 stolen bases last season. Alex is the brother of Andrew Jefferson who played for the bears from 1999-2002. Alex lives in Normal Illinois.
Top performances from Illinois baseball players last week in the Missouri Valley Conference.
Illinois State senior outfielder Ty Wiesemeyer had nine hits in a three game series against Southeast Missouri State last week. Ty had three doubles and six rbi's along with scoring four times. Wiesmeyer is from Troy Illinois.
Sophomore infielder Donny Duschinsky from Southern Illinois Carbondale went 8-16 at the plate last week. Duschinsky drove in eight runs, hit a grand slam, a double and a triple. Donny is from Elk Grove Illinois.
LHP Joe Bircher from Bradley University in Peoria Illinois earned a 6-2 win last week going seven innings and striking out 10.
Junior RHP Chris Razo from Illinois State got his first Division I victory last week throwin five innings allowing one run on 3 hits with six K's.
Missouri State RHP Clay Murphy threw 6 2/3rd's innings striking out four and not allowing an earned in MSU's victory over Oklahoma State last week. Murphy is from Wolf Lake Illinois.
Missouri State senior RHP Clay Murphy was named the Missouri Valley Conference Baseball Pitcher of the Week on Sunday.
Murphy struck out 10 in 8 innings, did not allow a run, struck out 10 and only let up 3 hits in the Bears 4-3 win over 22nd ranked Oklahoma State last week. Murphy took a no hitter into the fifth and did not allow a base runner past first until the seventh.
Clay is from Shawnee High and lives in Wolf Lake Illinois.
Top baseball performances in the Missouri Valley Conference last week from Illinois players.
Derek Sprout, Bradley University, Illinois Valley Central High School, the freshman catcher hit .571 with 2 rbi's, a sac bunt and scored three times.
Infielder Alex Staehely, Creighton University, Benet Academy, the sophomore hit .455 with 10 hits, 4 doubles, and 2 triples and drove in the winning run in a 4-3 10 inning victory over Kansas.
Matt Mirabal, Illinois State University, Mt. Carmel High School, the junior catcher drove in the winning run in a come from behind victory against UW Milwaukee on Sunday. In three game stretch Matt went 6-12 with 2 doubles and scored 4 times.
Outfielder Kyle Burnam, Indiana State University, Marshall High School, the junior outfielder went 4-6 at the plate in one game and overall had 2 doubles, 4 rbi's, and scored 4 times.
Jordan Sivertsen, Southern Illinois Carbondale, Carmel Catholic High School, Richmond IL, the junior outfielder went 6-15 at the plate with 3 extra base hits including a home run in a series against South Carolina.
Left handed pitcher Joe Bircher, Bradley University, Joe went 7 scoreless innings, struck out 7 and gave up only 3 hits in a 4-0 victory.
Left handed pitcher Kenny Long, Illinois State University, Dundee Crown High School, earned a win against UW Milwaukee going 3.2 innings, striking out 6.
Cody Forsythe, Southern Illinois Carbondale, the sophomore pitcher threw a complete game going 8 innings, giving up 7 hits and striking out 6 in a 4-0 loss at South Carolina.
Baseball in Illinois News
Players from Illinois picked by Rivals.com for the 2010 Missouri Valley Conference All-Conference Team:
C - Kevin Sullivan - Bradley University - Oakton Community College, York High School
SS - Elliot Soto - Creighton - Dundee Crown High School
OF - Aaron Conway - Missouri State - Triad High School
C - Tyler Bullock - Southern Illinois University Carbondale - DuQuoin High School
From Baseball in Illinois News Sources
Listed below are the top players to watch for 2010 in the Missouri Valley Conference based on how the Missouri Valley coaches voted in the pre-season.
Top Players From Illinois
OF - Aaron Conway - Missouri State University - Triad High School, lives in Edwardsville, Illinois
SS - Elliot Soto - Creighton University - Dundee-Crown High School, lives in Algonquin, Illinois
RHP - Brandon Keonigstein - Creighton University - Waterloo High School, lives in Waterloo, Illinois
1B - Evan Kohli - Illinois State University
3B - Ryan Court - Illinois State University - Dundee-Crown High School, lives in Sleepy Hollow, Illinois
RHP - Ryan Camp - Illinois State University - Limestone Community High School, lives in Mapleton, Illinois
RHP - Patrick Cooper - Bradley University
RHP - Kori Jensen - Bradley University
2B - Matt Fritz - Bradley University - Glenbrook North High School, lives in Northbrook, Illinois
