ABCA All-Midwest Region Teams

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Five Saint John's baseball student-athletes were named to the American Baseball Coaches' Association (ABCA) All-Midwest Region teams on Thursday, May 24.

Junior closer Joey Long (Belvidere, Ill./Rockford Boylan) was named to the first team; senior pitcher Hayden Zimmerman (New Richmond, Wis.) and junior pitcher/first baseman Connor Cline (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) were named to the second team; and junior pitcher Ryan Spengler (St. Cloud, Minn./Tech) and sophomore outfielder Dylan Graves (Mora, Minn.) were named to the third team.

All five were named to the All-MIAC first team May 15 and to the inaugural D3baseball.com All-Midwest Region teams May 18.

Long went 1-0 with 10 saves in 19 relief appearances for SJU (29-16, 14-6 MIAC), which tied a school record with 29 victories, this spring. A 2012 D3baseball.com All-America second-team selection, Long posted a 2.22 ERA, .174 opponent batting average, 3.43 strikeout/walk ratio and a 0.90 WHIP in 24.1 innings pitched. He accumulated seven saves with a 1-0 record in 11 MIAC relief appearances (11.0 IP), boasting a 0.82 ERA and a .158 opponent batting average. Long shattered SJU's records for saves in both a single season (10) and a career (14) this spring. He enters his senior season with a 1.85 ERA, a .204 opponent batting average and a 4.44 strikeout/walk ratio in 31 career appearances (43.2 IP).

A two-time All-MIAC selection and a 2010 American Baseball Coaches' Association (ABCA) All-Region selection, Zimmerman ended the year with a 7-3 record. He collected a 2.33 ERA and a .202 opponent batting average in 77.1 innings pitched. Zimmerman went 4-1 in conference play with a 2.45 ERA, 3.29 strikeout/walk ratio and a .197 opponent batting average in 33 MIAC innings. He ended his collegiate career second in school history in both strikeouts (156) and innings pitched (207), and tied for third in wins (18).

Cline led the team in batting (.331) and tied with Zimmerman for the team-lead with seven wins (7-5 record) on the mound. An All-MIAC and All-Region honoree as a utility player/starting pitcher, Cline led the Johnnies in batting average (.400), hits (26) and RBI (14), while batting .529 (9-for-17) with runners in scoring position in 19 MIAC games. His 26 hits in conference play tied him for fourth in the MIAC. He also went 4-2 with a 2.12 ERA and a .217 opponent batting average in a team-leading 34 conference innings pitched (six starts). In addition to his 12 starts on the mound, Cline made 18 starts at first base, 15 starts as the Johnnies' designated hitter and two more at second this season. He led the pitching staff in strikeouts (67) and registered a 2.97 ERA with a .224 opponent batting average in 72.2 innings pitched.

Graves led the Johnnies in home runs (6) and slugging percentage (.540), and finished second in batting (.323) and extra-base hits (14). He recorded a perfect fielding percentage (75 chances) with five outfield assists from center. The sophomore two-sport athlete led the team in home runs (3), extra-base hits (9) and slugging percentage (.579), while finishing second in hits (18), runs scored (11) and batting average (.316) in 20 MIAC starts.

A healthy Spengler was a pleasant addition to the Johnnies' 2012 pitching staff. He pitched only 3.2 innings as a freshman in 2010 before injuring his throwing shoulder, and then took a line drive off of his shin in his first start of the year last spring in Arizona, breaking his leg and forcing him to miss the entire 2011 season. Despite hiccups in his control (43 walks), Spengler went 6-4 with a rotation-leading 1.93 ERA and a .178 opponent batting average in 60.2 innings this season. He tallied a 3-1 record and led the pitching rotation with a 1.55 ERA and a .184 opponent batting average in 29 MIAC innings (five starts).

Spengler was also named to the ABCA/Rawlings Midwest Region Gold Glove team following an errorless spring in 22 fielding chances.

SJU won its first MIAC Baseball Playoff Championship (in addition to its 13 regular-season titles) to earn its third trip to the NCAA Division III Tournament in school history. Head coach Jerry Haugen ended his 35th season with a 665-567-5 (.540) career record in 2012.