Sophomore Ryan Abernathy earned a spot on the All-MIAA First-Team to highlight five Northwest Missouri State players earning all-conference accolades released by the conference office Thursday.

Abernathy becomes the first Bearcat to earn a spot on the first-team since 2007, when Ryley Westman and John White earned respective honors. The Chesterfield, Mo., native led the league in hits with 71 as he also led Northwest in runs (49), doubles (17) and stolen bases (11). His hits rank tied for fifth on the single season list at Northwest as does his 17 doubles.

Earning Honorable Mention All-MIAA nods were juniors Eric Swain and Cameron Bedard along with sophomore Eric McGlauflin and freshman Steven Garber. Swain led the Bearcats and finished second in the league with 10 homeruns while also leading the team with 41 RBIs.

McGlauflin finished in the top 10 in the league in batting average (.387) and on base percentage (.474) while Bedard finished at a .339 clip with a .448 on base percentage. Garber started in 39 games for Northwest at first base hitting .308 with 35 RBIs and was third on the team with a .525 slugging percentage in his first season.

2012 MIAA Champion Central Missouri nearly swept the end of year awards as Bret Schwartz was named Player of the Year and teammate Lee Stoppelman earned Pitcher of the Year accolades. The Mules head coach, Tommy Myers, earned his third Coach of the Year honors while Shawn Talkington of Emporia State was named Freshman of the Year.

— NWMSU Sports Information —