ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference has released the 2009 All-NSIC Baseball Teams and individual award winners with Concordia senior right handed pitcher Jake Schmidt (Oakdale, Minn.) being named the NSIC Pitcher of the Year and All-NSIC First Team. Senior Chris Herbert (White Bear Lake, Minn.) was named the All-NSIC First Team catcher and senior Brenden Furrow (Johnston, Iowa) was an All-NSIC Second Team outfielder. NSIC RELEASE
Schmidt, the NSIC Preseason Pitcher of the Year lived up to his billing, breaking the single game, season and career strikeout records for Concordia while posting a 7-2 record. With a career-high 16 strikeouts in 7 innings at UM, Crookston, Schmidt became the career strikeout leader at CU and with his 14 K’s in his next and final start at Bemidji State, he finished the year with 103, breaking his mark of 100 a year ago. He currently leads all Division II pitchers in K/9 with 13.43. He reached double-digit strikeouts in seven of his 11 starts in 2009 with five complete games, a shutout and a save. He finished with a 3.78 ERA while hurling 69.0 innings. In his career, he is CU’s all-time wins leader with a 23-8 record and 273 strikeouts. At the plate, Schmidt was CU’s leadoff hitter, centerfielder and first and second baseman and hit 10 home runs, 10 doubles and stole eight bases. In games he pitched, he helped his own cause with a .471 average in 11 games with 15 runs and 10 RBI. He earned two NSIC Pitcher of the Week honors and one NSIC Player of the Week and was a five-time CU Male Athlete of the Week.
Herbert had the best run producing season in school history, driving in a school record 65 RBI while scoring 55 runs - second most in school history. At the plate, he hit .372 to lead Concordia while mashing 12 home runs for the second straight year. His 12 long balls give him 24 in his two year Concordia career, third most in CU history. His 16 doubles and one triple give him 29 extra base hits as he slugged .686 on the year. While a huge threat with the bat, Herbert also had patience at the plate as he walked 27 times and was hit by pitch 14 times for a .488 on base pct. He also stole 11 bases in 12 tries, showing great speed and athleticism for a catcher. In the field, he had a .977 fielding pct. and threw out 11 base runners in 49 steal attempts. He is a returning All-NSIC First Teamer, an All-Region player and a preseason All-American.
The NSIC Preseason Player of the Year, Furrow, had a record setting season for the Golden Bears as he moved into a tie for the career hits record with 178 while drilling a record 69 hits in 53 games for CU in 2009. The 69 hits broke his 2008 record of 65 as he holds the top-two hit seasons in school history. He equalled Herbert's 16 doubles to tie for the team lead and the fourth most doubles in school history. In his career, he produced 39 doubles in three seasons, tied for second on the career list. The .389 career hitter hit .367 for the 2009 season while setting the single season at bats record at CU (188) and in the Northern Sun (111 in 31 league games). His 458 career at bats are second all-time, impressive for a three year player. He also ranks in the top-10 in career RBI (4th, 118), home runs (9th, 17) and his .389 average ranks fifth on the career list. A right fielder entering the season, Furrow spent his time split between right and first base, where he was coined as "vicinity" for his instinctive play at the position.
