May 9, 2007

Lusero Named RMAC Player of the Year

Four Other Lopers Honored      

      Kearney, Neb. –  Nebraska-Kearney senior second baseman Cody Lusero is the 2007 RMAC Player of the Year.

       The baseball all-conference team was released Tuesday night prior to the state of the conference tournament. The league’s head coaches voted on the team.

       Lusero (Papillion-LaVista), also named to the first-team for the second straight year, is UNK’s first RMAC Player of the Year in baseball.

        A four-year starter, he currently is at .439 with 10 homers and 48 RBI’s. Lusero also has drawn 29 walks and hit a team-best 15 doubles. In RMAC games only, Lusero is batting .478.

        In the field, he has made only five errors in over 200 chances (.976 percentage).

        Career wise, Lusero needs just four hits to move into second place on the Lopers’ all-time list, past Bronson Bosshammer (229).

        Earning second-team honors are junior pitcher Seth Svoboda (Kearney) and sophomore outfielder Brad Hull (Lincoln). Receiving honorable mention honors were junior catcher Griff Watson (Omaha North) and sophomore third baseman Kyle Smith (Blair).

        Svoboda over came a slow start to currently be 6-3 with three complete games and 35 strikeouts. He also is one of only two Lopers to have started at least 10 games this year.

        Hull, a lefty, is at .367 with one homer and 29 RBI’s. Batting mainly in the leadoff spot, he also had five doubles, three triples and four stolen bases. Defensively, he currently has a stellar .984 fielding percentage.

       Behind the plate, Watson has thrown out 16 runners this year, in addition to “calling” the game for the Lopers. Offensively, he is at .333 with seven doubles and 21 RBI’s.

       Finally, Smith is one of UNK’s top power hitters, coming in at .345 with eight doubles, eight homers and 33 RBI’s.

       The complete team can be found at www.rmacsports.org.

        Lusero, Svoboda and Hull are pictured below