May 24, 2006

KENT, Ohio - Announced by the league today from the site of the 2006 Mid-American Conference Baseball Tournament, Ohio senior Anthony Gressick has been named to the All-MAC First Team for the third time in his career while junior Willie Walker has garnered second-team All-MAC honors.

Official MAC Release (.pdf)
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Gressick became the first Ohio player to capture three first-team All-MAC awards since Kevin Priessman in 1977-79. Named all-conference as a designated hitter, Gressick joins Priessman, Steve Swisher (1971-73), Mike Schmidt (1969-71) and Larry Thomas (1969-62) as the only players in Ohio history to be three-time first-team selections.

A native of Lancaster, Ohio, Gressick led the 2006 Bobcats in runs scored (45), hits (73), doubles (16), home runs (8), RBIs (43), walks (25), slugging (.587) and on-base percentage (.449). His .372 average was second on the team and sixth in the MAC and he led the MAC in league-only games with 47 hits. Gressick had a career-high - and team-leading - 25 multiple-hit games in 2006 and also led Ohio with 12 multiple-RBI games. In his last series as a Bobcat last week against Bowling Green, Gressick hit .538 with three homers, five RBIs and six runs scored to earn MAC East Division Player of the Week honors. On Monday, May 22, he was also named Ohio's Male Student-Athlete of the Year by the Green & White Club.

Gressick was the only one of the 16 members of the 2006 All-MAC First Team who was also a selection a year ago.

Walker, who hails from Marysville, Ohio, earned the first league postseason honor of his career. A second-team All-MAC selection, Walker led the squad - and ranked third in the league - with a career-high .377 average. He also led the MAC in league-only games with a .429 average and finished second in the conference with four triples. In addition to batting average and triples, Walker also ranked in the top 10 in the MAC in runs scored, RBIs, on-base percentage, and slugging. He recorded an 18-game hitting streak from April 8 through May 7, which is tied for the second-longest Ohio streak since the MAC began tracking such streaks in 1975. As Ohio's center fielder, Walker committed just one error in 86 chances and led Ohio with five outfield assists.

Regular season MAC champion Kent State placed six members on the All-MAC First Team squad, including five position players. West Division champion Central Michigan had the second-most selections across the two teams with four.

Kent State's Emmanuel Burriss was named the MAC Player of the Year and Scott Stricklin was recognized as the Coach of the Year. Eastern Michigan's Jeff Fischer earned the league's Pitcher of the Year honors while Western Michigan's Ethan Hollingsworth was named Freshman of the Year.

The Ohio program will draw the year to a close and hand out team awards with its annual team banquet on Monday, May 29.