GREENVILLE, Ill. – Webster University is well represented on the 2019 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Baseball Teams that were released here Friday evening between the third and fourth games of the SLIAC Tournament being hosted by Greenville University and held at Robert E. Smith Field.
 
The Gorloks, who went 18-4 in SLIAC play during the regular season and shared the regular season title with Spalding, had eight players named to one of the three All-SLIAC Teams, including junior pitcher Matt Mulhearn (Chicago Heights, Ill./Marian Catholic), sophomore shortstop Matt Staker (El Cajon, Calif./Saint Augustine) and sophomore third baseman Ben Swords (Freeport, Ill./Freeport) earning First-Team All-SLIAC honors. The 13-time SLIAC regular season champion Gorloks were one of three league schools to have multiple first team selections as Spalding had four and Fontbonne added three.
 
Along with Mulhearn, Staker and Swords earning First-Team All-SLIAC honors, three Gorloks were named to the All-SLIAC Second Team and two were named Third-Team All-SLIAC selections. The Gorloks named to the All-SLIAC Second Team were junior catcher Joe Swanson (Park Ridge, Ill./Maine West), junior All-American first baseman Kyler Kent (Pottsboro, Texas/Pottsboro) and senior rightfielder Nate Tholl (Tinley Park, Ill./John A. Logan CC), while sophomore pitcher Sean Beaver (San Diego, Calif./Scripps Ranch) and senior pitcher Adrian Santiago (Chicago, Ill./Oakton College) were named to the All-SLIAC Third Team. In addition, Staker was a repeat selection to the SLIAC All-Sportsmanship Team.
 
With their selections, Mulhearn, Kent, Swords and Swanson are repeat selections from last season as Mulhearn, Swords and Swanson were all Second-Team All-SLIAC honorees, while Kent was a First-Team All-SLIAC honoree.
 
Perhaps most disappointing again this season was that no Gorlok player earned an individual award (Player, Pitcher, Newcomer and Coach of the Year) from the league as Spalding's Eric Meyer becomes the second straight Golden Eagle to be named the SLIAC Player of the Year, while Fontbonne's Luke Summers earned the SLIAC Pitcher of the Year Award after sharing it a season ago with Spalding's Jimi Keating and Westminster's Mason Kirkweg becomes the third straight Blue Jay to earn SLIAC Newcomer of the Year.
In the other major individual award, Spalding's Matt Downs took home the SLIAC Coach of the Year honor for the third consecutive season as he won the honor in 2017 and then shared the honor in 2018 with Webster's Bill Kurich. Downs' earns his third straight Coach of the Year honor after leading Spalding to its first-ever SLIAC regular season title as they shared the regular season title with Webster after posting an 18-4 league record and a 29-10 overall mark.
 
The All-SLIAC Teams were selected by the league's 10 head baseball coaches and the head coaches weren't allowed to vote to their own players.
 
Mulhearn moves up to the All-SLIAC First Team this season after posting an overall record of 9-2 and a 2.20 ERA during the regular season. In SLIAC play, Mulhearn was even more dominant as the righthander posted a 7-0 mark and a 1.99 ERA in eight appearances and six starts. On the season, Mulhearn has made 13 appearances and 11 starts, tossed five complete games and in a team-best 77.2 innings, he has allowed 64 hits, 20 runs, 19 earned runs, while walking just nine and striking out 85, which is second in the league and 16th nationally. In his eight SLIAC pitching appearances, Mulhearn tossed 45.1 innings and allowed 32 hits, 10 runs (10 earned runs), while walking five and striking out 55. In his three years at Webster, Mulhearn, who was an ABCA/Rawlings All-Central Region selection, has posted a 19-6 record and a career ERA of 2.79. In 42 appearances and 26 starts, he has recorded 187 strikeouts and walked just 39 batters in 190 innings of work and has tossed six complete games. He is tied for fifth in career wins (19), seventh in career strikeouts (187), eighth in career innings pitched (190), ninth in career ERA (2.79) and tied for 10th in career appearances (46). His 10 wins in 2018 are tied for the most in a single season in school history, while his 85 strikeouts this season is sixth on the school's single season charts.
 
Staker earns his spot in the infield on the All-SLIAC First Team after posting a .269 average and recorded 28 hits, 23 runs, hit three doubles, one home run and had 27 RBI. In addition, he drew 21 walks, was hit by 12 pitches and led the league in sacrifice bunts with 13, which is sixth in Division III. Staker had seven multi-hit games, including a team-best two four hit games and also had six multiple RBI games. In SLIAC play, Staker was really strong at the plate as he led the team with a .396 batting average as he had 21 hits, scored 16 runs, hit three doubles, one home run and had 22 RBI. In addition, he drew 14 walks and was 5-for-6 on stolen bases in league play.
 
Swords earns his spot on the All-SLIAC First Team after recording a batting average of .310 during the regular season. On the year, he leads the Gorloks in hits (44), runs scored (36), doubles (14), RBI (33), walks (22) and is tied for the team lead in home runs with five and was 12-for-12 on stolen bases. In SLIAC play, Swords, who was a Second-Team selection last season, hit .329 with 25 hits, 24 runs scored, 10 doubles, three home runs, 22 RBI and was 9-for-9 on steals. He led the team with 12 multi-hit games and was second in multiple RBI games with eight.
 
Mulhearn, Staker, Swords, Meyer and Summers are joined on the All-SLIAC First Team by Spalding sophomore pitcher Jack Parisi, Westminster junior catcher Branden Beeler, Fontbonne senior infielder Jonathan Hoevelmann, Spalding senior outfielder Quenton Brownlee, Eureka senior outfielder Sean Green, Spalding junior outfielder Garrett Wilson, Fontbonne sophomore designated hitter Braeden Dobbs and Spalding senior utility player Dillon Sievert.
 
Swanson earns his second straight All-SLIAC Second Team honor at catcher after recording a .295 average with 31 hits, 19 runs, six doubles, one triple, 13 RBI and was hit by 10 pitches and was 4-for-5 on stolen bases. In SLIAC play, Swanson hit .379 as he had 22 hits, scored 15 runs, hit five doubles, had eight RBI and was hit by seven pitches. Swanson had six multi-hit games and four multiple RBI games and was the primary catcher for Webster's pitching staff that led the SLIAC with a 2.54 ERA, which is second-best in Division III.
 
Kent, who was a First-Team honoree last season after recording a school record 83 base hits, earns All-SLIAC Second Team honors after hitting .254 and recording 35 hits, scoring 23 runs, hitting four doubles, five home runs and having 27 RBI. In addition, he drew 18 walks and struck out just 13 times in 138 at-bats. In SLIAC play, Kent hit .354 with 28 hits, 14 runs, four doubles, four home runs and 22 RBI. Kent enters the postseason having recorded nine multi-hit and a team-leading nine multiple RBI games and is currently in the midst of a two-game hitting streak.
 
Tholl earns a spot on the All-SLIAC Second Team as an outfielder after hitting .333 on the season and recording 40 hits, scoring 24 runs, hit 12 doubles, two home runs and 17 RBI. In addition, Tholl was hit by 13 pitches and was 17-for-20 on stolen bases. In SLIAC play, Tholl hit .371 as he had 23 hits, scored 16 runs, hit five doubles, two home runs, had 10 RBI and was 10-for-11 on stolen bases. Tholl recorded nine multi-hit games and six multiple RBI games.
 
Swanson, Kent and Tholl were joined on the All-SLIAC Second Team by Westminster senior pitcher Ian Cassidy, Spalding junior pitcher Zach Jones, Greenville junior pitcher Jonah Moore, Greenville sophomore infielder Sam Hodges, Spalding senior infielder Cody Milliner, Greenville freshman infielder Ryan Taylor, Westminster sophomore outfielder Ryan Clavin, Fontbonne senior outfielder Michael Puckett, Jr., Westminster senior designated hitter Ryan Klimkiewicz and Greenville junior utility player Klaiton Wolff.
 
Beaver earns a spot on the All-SLIAC Third Team after posting a 5-3 record and a 2.03 ERA during the regular season. In SLIAC play, Beaver went 4-2 with a 3.09 ERA and in eight appearances and six starts in league play, Beaver tossed 32 innings and allowed 23 hits, 13 runs, 11 earned runs, while striking out 27 and walking 12. On the year, Beaver made 10 appearances and nine starts on the hill and tossed one complete game. In 57.2 innings of work, the right-hander allowed 44 hits, 19 runs, 13 earned runs, had 52 strikeouts and 16 walks. Beaver's ERA is third best in the league and had seven or more strikeouts in four games, including a season high nine against Buena Vista on March 1.
 
Santiago was selected to the All-SLIAC Third Team after recording a 1.80 ERA and a 6-2 record with seven saves in 20 appearances out of the bullpen. The six wins were tied for fourth in the league, while his seven saves are second in the league and 19th nationally in Division III. In 45 innings of work over 20 appearances, Santiago allowed 27 hits, nine runs, nine earned runs, while walking 18 and striking out 41. In SLIAC play, Santiago went 2-1 with a 2.18 ERA and had four saves. In 11 appearances in league play, Santiago tossed 20.2 innings and allowed 13 hits and five runs, while striking out 19 and walking eight. The seven saves this season is tied for second on the school's single season list, while his 1.80 ERA is second in the league and has recorded a 1.00 WHIP on the year.
 
Beaver, Santiago and Kirkweg were joined on the All-SLIAC Third Team by Blackburn senior catcher Ryan Steen, Principia freshman infielder Jack Adler, Westminster freshman infielder Hayden Hirschvogel, Eureka sophomore infielder Mike Redmond, Iowa Wesleyan sophomore infielder Nick Salas, Principia junior infielder Stephen Strong, Fontbonne senior outfielder Jackson Penrod, Westminster junior outfielder Will Stonecipher, Spalding sophomore outfielder Evan Trentman and Principia senior utility player Aleq McMullin.
 
Staker is joined on the SLIAC All-Sportsmanship Team by Steen, Eureka's Dean Moir, Fontbonne's Tyler Grimes, Greenville's Adam Lamb, Iowa Wesleyan's Jake Leonard, MacMurray's Brandon Schanz, Principia's Will Adler, Spalding's Bryce Splading and Westminster's Alex Dickneite.
 
The league awarded the Team Sportsmanship Award to Blackburn for the second time in the last eight seasons as the Beavers also earned the award in 2012.