Kearney, Neb. – Nebraska-Kearney senior Ryan Sheldon has been chosen the RMAC Pitcher of the Year for a second consecutive season.

The 2009 all-conference awards came out on Wednesday, the first day of the RMAC Tournament. The eight coaches voted on the make up of the team.

Sheldon (Kearney H.S.) is joined on the first-team by junior third baseman Blake Cover, a Kearney Catholic graduate. Making the second-team was senior right fielder Nate Swearer (Lincoln) with junior pitcher Jared Loschen (Kearney H.S.), junior pitcher Ricky Muir (Easton, Conn.) and sophomore first baseman Andrew Haake (Beatrice) on the third-team.

Sheldon, Swearer and Cover are repeat selections while this is the first All-RMAC honor for Haake, Loschen and Muir.

Once again, Sheldon tied the school record for wins in a season (eight) while fanning 87 batters and walking just 19 in 88.1 innings. Having four complete games in 12 starts, Sheldon has a 4.48 ERA heading into the RMAC Tournament.

Cover is currently at .391 with five homers and 45 RBI's. He leads the Lopers in batting average, hits (84), runs (59), doubles (17) and is 13 for 13 in stolen bases. This was Cover's first full year at third after playing some left field during the 2008 campaign.

For the third straight season, Swearer had another big effort at the plate as he is currently batting .376 with 10 HR's and 67 RBI's. Leading the team in triples (five), Swearer also has five assists from the outfield.

Haake, in his first year at UNK, is batting .328 with 10 HR's and 45 RBI's. A lefty at the plate, he leads the team in walks (25) and putouts (359).

On the hill, Loschen is 5-5 with a 3.79 ERA. Most impressively, he has thrown seven complete games in 12 starts and has fanned 69 batters in 76 innings.

Finally, Muir leads the team in ERA (3.38) and appearances (17) in his first spring as a Loper. A relief pitcher most of the year, he has become UNK's third starter and has one combined shut out in three starts.

Mesa State senior short stop Matt Bodenchuk is the RMAC Player of the Year with Regis third baseman Dave Holland the RMAC Freshman of the Year. Finally, Chris Hanks is once again the RMAC Coach of the Year.

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