Dec. 15, 2010
NORMAL, Ill. -
Redbird second baseman Kevin Tokarksi earned the fifth All-America honor of his career, as the redshirt junior was named to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Preseason All-American Third Team, the NCBWA announced Wednesday.
"Kevin was a tremendous player for us last season," said Redbird head coach Mark Kingston. "We would not have had the success that we had last season, had Kevin not played as well as he did. Now, we are looking forward to seeing what Kevin can accomplish this season."
Tokarski earned three All-American selections last season, as he helped the Redbirds win the 2010 Missouri Valley Conference Regular-Season and State Farm MVC Tournament championships. Tokarski earned Ping! Baseball First Team All-America, ABCA/Rawlings Second Team All-America and Louisville Slugger Third Team All-America honors. The Downers Grove, Ill., native also garnered ABCA All-Midwest Region First Team honors. As a freshman, Tokarksi was named to the Louisville Slugger Freshman All-America team.
The first Joe Carter MVC Player of the Year in school history, Tokarski was also a first-team All-Valley selection, the State Farm MVC Tournament Most Valuable Player, and a first-team All-MVC Tournament selection. Last season, Tokarski set six ISU single-season records, including most hits (84), runs scored (70), doubles (25) stolen bases (33), walks (53) and intentional walks (7). He also broke the school's career stolen bases mark (60) in just two seasons. Tokarski finished 2010 among the nation's leaders with a .538 on-base percentage (7th in the nation), an average of 1.32 runs scored per game (13th), 25 doubles (tied for 19th), 33 stolen bases (tied for 19th), 70 runs scored (tied for 37th) and a .412 batting average (tied for 36th).
The 2011 Illinois State baseball season starts Feb. 18 at Belmont, as the Redbirds begin the quest to defend their Valley title.
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