Missouri State University

June 8, 2012

DALLAS - Missouri State sophomore pitcher Nick Petree was one of nine Division I baseball standouts to earn District Player of the Year recognition from the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Friday. Petree was named NCBWA's 2012 District VI Player of the Year after posting one of the most dominant seasons in MSU history to help the Bears (40-22) earn their first NCAA Tournament bid in nine years.

Petree, who was named National Player of the Year and a first-team All-American by Collegiate Baseball last week, went 10-4 with a 1.01 ERA and 114 strikeouts in 115.1 innings pitched in 2012 to lead a dominant Bears' pitching staff that currently leads the nation in team ERA (2.57) and shutouts (11), while ranking third in Division I with a school-record 537 strikeouts on the season. He becomes the first Bear to earn a District Player of the Year citation in the 13 years the NCBWA has awarded the honor and was previously named a semifinalist for both the NCBWA's Dick Howser Trophy and USA Baseball's Golden Spikes Award.

Petree is the third Bear to earn MVC Pitcher of the Year honors from the MVC in the last five seasons and the fifth MSU hurler overall to win the same award. The Clinton, Mo., product turned in the nation's longest scoreless-inning streak this season, working a Missouri State-record 38.1 consecutive shutout frames from April 6-May 17, as well as 73.0 straight innings without giving up an earned run (March 2-May 17). Petree's 1.01 earned run average leads all of Division I entering NCAA Super Regional play and the right-hander also paces the Missouri Valley Conference in victories after becoming just the seventh pitcher in school history to surpass the 100-strikeout plateau in a season, finishing with 114 punchouts on the year to rank 16th nationally and third on MSU's single-season list.

Joining Petree as NCBWA District Players of the year are: District I: 1B Jeff Cammans (Rhode Island); District II: OF Travis Jankowski (Stony Brook); District III: C Mike Zunino (Florida); District IV: DH Daniel Kassouf (Appalachian State); District V: 1B Chris Serritella (Southern Illinois); District VII: OF Raph Rhymes (LSU); District VIII: 1B Goose Kallunki (Utah Valley); District IX: UT Marco Gonzales (Gonzaga).

NCBWA districts are divided as follows: District I-Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania; District II: Connecticut, West Virginia, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, District of Columbia; District III: Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida; District IV: Georgia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland; District V: Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin; District VI: Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota; District VII: Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana; District VIII: Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada, Montana; District IX: California, Oregon, Washington, Hawai'i, Arizona, Alaska.