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Hanson A Daktronics-Scholar-Athlete
Mustangs Break Stolen Base Records
Four Mustangs Named To All-GPAC First-Team
Drent Named Mustangs New Head Coach
Hanson Named To Academic All-District Team
Meacham And Aschinger Receive MVP Awards
Scholten To Retire At End Of 2011 Campaign
Mustangs Sweep Weekly GPAC Honors
Meacham Receives GPAC Player Of The Week Award
Aschinger Is GPAC Pitcher Of The Week
Mustangs 7th In GPAC Pre-Season Poll
 Bill Meacham, a senior first baseman from Sioux City, has been named to the honorable mention list of the 2011 NAIA All-America Baseball Team.
Meacham collected 56 hits in 152 at-bats for a .368 batting average this past season. He was the Mustangs’ top power hitter and run producer with team-high totals of 11 doubles, seven home runs, and 56 RBIs. Meacham’s seven home runs accounted for 50 percent of the Mustangs’ season’s total of 14 home runs. Meacham also topped the Mustangs with a .579 slugging percentage and ranked among the team leaders with 25 runs scored and 24 walks.
He had the Mustangs’ longest hitting streak of the season when he hit safely in 15 consecutive games from April 3 to April 22. Meacham was at his best in run producing situations with 31 hits in 64 at-bats to lead the Mustangs with a .484 batting average with runners in scoring position.
Morningside posted a 31-21 record during the 2011 season and finished fifth in the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) standings with a 14-8 league mark.
Click here for the complete 2011 NAIA All-America Baseball Team.
 Travis Hanson, a junior outfielder from Sioux City, has been named a 2011 Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athlete in the sport of baseball.
Hanson has a 3.95 cumulative grade point average (GPA) with majors in engineering physics and mathematics.
Hanson batted .318 with 11 doubles, four triples, 18 RBIs, and 57 runs scored this past season. He was the Mustangs’ co-leader with his 11 doubles and was the NAIA national leader with a school-record 44 stolen bases.
Student-athletes must be of at least junior academic status and have a minimum GPA of 3.50 in order to be eligible for Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athlete honors.
Morningside posted a 31-21 record during the 2011 season and finished fifth in the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) standings with a 14-8 league record.
Click here for the complete list of 2011 Daktronics-NAIA Baseball Scholar-Athletes.
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Travis Hanson |
A.J. Staiert |
The stolen base was the trademark of the 2011 Morningside College baseball team.
The Mustangs had a school-record 131 stolen bases during the season to shatter their former school record of 118 stolen bases they set last season.
Morningside’s most prolific base bandit was Travis Hanson, a sophomore outfielder from Sioux City, who was the NAIA national leader during the regular season and finished the campaign with 44 thefts to break the former Morningside single-season record of 43 steals by Ryan Meis in 1995. Aside from his base running exploits, Hanson was also one of the Mustangs’ best hitters with a .318 batting average with a team-high 11 doubles and four triples. Hanson’s four triples was the fifth highest single-season total in Morningside history. Hanson also led the Mustangs with 16 multiple hit games.
The Mustangs’ leading hitter was A.J. Staiert, a freshman shortstop from Sioux City, who made a smooth transition to the collegiate ranks with a team-high 58 hits in 152 at-bats for a .382 batting average with 10 doubles, one triple, and 29 RBIs. Aside from his 58 hits, Staiert also topped the Mustangs with 42 runs scored, 36 walks, and a .497 on-base percentage. Staiert’s 36 walks was the second highest single-season total in Morningside history.
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Bill Meacham |
Steven Aschinger |
Bill Meacham, a senior first baseman from Sioux City, was the top power threat and run producer in the Mustangs’ lineup with a team-high 11 doubles, seven home runs, 56 RBIs, and a .579 slugging percentage to compliment a .368 batting average. Meacham had the Mustangs’ longest hitting streak of the season when he hit safely in 15 consecutive games from April 3 to April 22. He was at his best in run producing situations by collecting 31 hits in 64 at-bats to lead the Mustangs with a .484 batting average with runners in scoring position.
Tyler Candor, a sophomore outfielder from Merrill, Iowa, also had 11 doubles to share the team leadership with Hanson and Meacham. Candor finished with a .300 batting average to give the Mustangs four .300 hitters in their lineup.
Steven Aschinger, a senior from Lake View, Iowa, was the ace of the Mustangs’ pitching staff with a 7-4 record and a 1.75 earned run average. Aschinger finished one victory shy of a Morningside single-season record and his 1.75 earned run average was the fourth lowest single-season mark in school history. Aside from leading the Mustangs in victories and earned run average, Aschinger also topped the Mustangs with 11 starts, eight complete games, 72 innings, and 38 strikeouts. He allowed only 57 hits while holding the opposition to a .216 batting average and had the best control on the Mustangs’ staff with only 13 walks.
Jeff Gacke, a sophomore pitcher from Rock Rapids, Iowa, had the best won-lost record on the Mustangs’ staff with a 7-2 record with a team-high six saves and a 3.19 earned run average as the Mustangs’ closer. His seven victories were one shy of Morningside’s single-season record.
Morningside posted a 31-21 record during the 2011 season and finished fifth in the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) standings with a 14-8 league record.
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Steven Aschinger |
Travis Hanson |
Four Morningside College players have been named to the 2011 All-Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Baseball First-Team as selected by the league’s head coaches.
The Mustangs’ first-team all-conference selections are Steven Aschinger, a senior pitcher from Lake View, Iowa; Travis Hanson, a sophomore outfielder from Sioux City; Bill Meacham, a senior first baseman from Sioux City; and A.J. Staiert, a freshman shortstop from Sioux City.
Aschinger was the Mustangs’ pitching ace this past season with a 7-4 record and a 1.75 earned run average. Aschinger, who finished one victory shy of a Morningside single-season record, led the Mustangs with 11 starts, eight complete games, 72 innings, and 38 strikeouts. He allowed only 57 hits while holding the opposition to a .216 batting average and walked only 13 batters all season. Aschinger allowed two earned runs or less in 10 of his 11 starts, including one earned run or less in eight of them.
In addition to making the All-GPAC first-team, Aschinger was also the pitcher named to the 2011 GPAC/Hauff Mid-America Sports Gold Glove Team. Aschinger batted .289 with eight doubles, one triple, three home runs, and 23 RBIs as a second baseman when he wasn’t pitching.
Hanson batted .318 with 11 doubles, four triples, 18 RBIs, 40 runs scored, and a school-record 44 stolen bases as the Mustangs’ leadoff hitter. Hanson, the NAIA national leader in stolen bases throughout the season, broke the former Morningside record of 43 stolen bases in a season set by Ryan Meis in 1995.
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Bill Meacham |
A.J. Staiert |
Meacham batted .368 and was the Mustangs’ top power threat and run producer with team-high totals of 11 doubles, seven home runs, and 56 RBIs. He also led the Mustangs with a .579 slugging percentage.
Staiert enjoyed a standout freshman campaign by leading the Mustangs in hitting with a .382 batting average with a team-high 58 hits in 152 at-bats. Staiert had 10 doubles, one triple, 29 RBIs, and seven stolen bases and topped the Mustangs with 42 runs scored, 36 walks, and a .497 on-base percentage.
In addition to their four first-team selections, the Mustangs placed Jeff Gacke, Adison Gillett, and Brendan McCabe on the All-GPAC honorable mention list.
Gacke, a sophomore pitcher from Rock Rapids, Iowa, had a 7-2 record with six saves and a 3.19 earned run average as the Mustangs’ closer. His seven victories were one shy of a Morningside single-season record. Gacke allowed 31 hits to go along with 13 walks and 19 strikeouts in 31 innings pitched.
Gillett, a sophomore catcher from Omaha, Neb., hit .264 with three doubles and nine RBIs. Gillett hit .310 over his final 26 games of the season.
McCabe, a junior catcher from Blooming Prairie, Minn., hit .283 with seven doubles, one home run, and seven RBIs.
Morningside posted a 31-21 record during the 2011 season and finished fifth in the GPAC standings with a 14-8 league mark.
Click here for the complete 2011 All-GPAC Baseball Team.
Morningside College athletic director Jerry Schmutte announced the hiring of Brian Drent as the Mustangs’ new head baseball coach.
Drent is currently the head baseball coach at Sioux City North High School and a special education and physical education teacher for Sioux City Community Schools. He will replace longtime Morningside head coach Jim Scholten, who earlier this spring announced his plans to retire as the Mustangs’ head coach at the conclusion of the season. Scholten was Morningside’s head coach for the past 28 seasons.
Drent will begin his duties at Morningside on June 1.
Drent has a 157-48 record for a .766 winning percentage in five seasons at North, where he guided the Stars to a 36-7 record and Iowa’s Class 4A state championship during the 2009 season. Drent has led North to three consecutive state tournament appearances and four consecutive Missouri River Activities Conference championships. He was named the 2009 Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association (IHSBCA) Iowa Class 4A Coach of the Year and has been named the IHSBCA Class 4A West District Coach of the Year each of the past four seasons.
Drent hopes his success in the prep ranks will follow him to Morningside.
“I have always wanted to coach at the collegiate level and I am excited about the opportunity to coach at Morningside, which I feel is one of the premier jobs in the Midwest,” Drent said. “I look forward to working with the student-athletes and continue building the baseball program into a championship contender.”
Drent will inherit a Morningside team that posted a 31-21 record and finished fifth in the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) standings with a 14-8 league mark during the 2011 season. He said his goal is to build the Mustangs into a perennial GPAC title contender and NAIA National Tournament participant.
Drent attended Morningside for one year following his graduation from Worthington High School in Minnesota and earned first-team All-North Central Conference honors as a centerfielder when he batted .310 with four home runs and 15 RBIs for Morningside during the 1993 campaign. He then attended Indian Hills Community College for one year and was drafted in the 13th round by Major League Baseball’s Chicago White Sox. Drent spent three seasons in the White Sox Minor League system and played for the Greenville Bluesmen of the independent Texas-Louisiana League during the 1998 campaign.
Schmutte believes Drent’s past resume as a coach and player will translate into success at Morningside.
“Brian Drent has enjoyed a tremendous amount of success both as a coach and as a player and I believe we have found a great person to lead our baseball program at Morningside,” Schmutte said.
Drent holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Bellevue University, a bachelor’s degree in physical education with a minor in coaching from Peru State College, and a master’s degree in special education from the University of Nebraska-Kearney.
He was an assistant men’s basketball coach at Worthington Community College and an assistant baseball coach at Millard North High School and an assistant basketball coach at Millard South High School in Nebraska earlier in his career.
 Travis Hanson, a sophomore outfielder from Sioux City, has been named to the 2001 Capital One Academic All-District VII College Division Baseball Third-Team.
Hanson has a 3.95 cumulative GPA with majors in engineering physics and mathematics. Hanson has a .316 batting average with 11 doubles, three triples, 18 RBIs, and a NAIA leading 44 stolen bases.
Athletes must be of at least sophomore academic status, be a starter or significant reserve, and have a cumulative GPA of 3.30 or higher to be eligible for Capital One Academic honors.
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Bill Meacham |
Steven Aschinger |
Bill Meacham, a senior first baseman from Sioux City, received the Most Valuable Player Award and Steven Aschinger, a senior pitcher from Lake View, Iowa, received the Most Valuable Pitcher Award at the Morningside College baseball team’s awards banquet on Sunday.
Meacham hit .387 during the regular season with 55 hits in 142 at-bats and led the team with 11 doubles, seven home runs, 56 RBIs, and a .613 slugging percentage.
Aschinger is the Mustangs’ pitching ace with a 7-3 record to lead the team in victories. He has allowed only 13 earned runs in 66 innings to lead the team with a 1.77 earned run average. Aschinger also tops the Mustangs with 66 innings pitched, 10 starts, and seven complete games. He has allowed only 50 hits and issued 13 walks while holding the opposition to a .208 batting average.
Morningside will take a 30-19 record into this week’s Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Baseball Championships in Sioux City. The Mustangs, who finished fifth in the GPAC regular season standings with a 14-8 league record, will face Midland University in a first round contest at noon on Thursday at Sioux City North High School.
Other award winners were:
Best Defensive Player – Will Glienke, a junior outfielder from Spencer, Iowa.
Rookie of the Year – A.J. Staiert, a freshman infielder from Sioux City.
Transfer of the Year – Brendan McCabe, a junior catcher from Blooming Prairie, Minn.
Most Improved Player – Britton Adams, a freshman pitcher from Arlington, Neb.
JV Most Valuable Player – Zach Lopez, a freshman outfielder from Saint Paul, Minn.
JV Most Valuable Pitcher – Jordan Mouw, a freshman from Boyden, Iowa.
Top JV Defensive Player – Tanner O’Neill, a freshman infielder from Sioux City.
Hardest Worker – Travis Hanson, a sophomore outfielder from Sioux City; Jeremy Myers, a sophomore outfielder from Sioux City; and McCabe.
Best Teammate – Alex Smith, a sophomore outfielder-catcher from Sioux City; Chris Stutzriem, a junior pitcher from Lawton, Okla.; Aschinger, and Hanson.
Captain’s Leadership Award – Kyle Suder, a senior pitcher from Council Bluffs, Iowa; Aschinger, and Meacham.
Coaches Appreciation Award – Tyler Candor, a sophomore outfielder from Merrill, Iowa; Jeff Gacke, a sophomore pitcher from Rock Rapids, Iowa; Bobby Lee, a freshman outfielder from Sioux City; Mike McBride, a senior first baseman from South Sioux City, Neb.; Nate Rump, a sophomore pitcher-infielder from Omaha, Neb.; Nick Wells, a freshman pitcher-first baseman from Glenwood, Iowa; Aschinger, Meacham, Smith, Stutzriem, and Suder.
 Jim Scholten has announced that he is retiring at the end of the current season after 28 years as head baseball coach at Morningside College.
Jerry Schmutte, Morningside’s athletic director, said a search for Scholten’s successor will begin immediately.
“Jim loves baseball, and Morningside has been fortunate that he has unselfishly shared his passion for the sport with our players for nearly 30 years,” Schmutte said.
In announcing his retirement plans, Scholten said, “One of the best things about my career at Morningside has been the opportunity to work with outstanding student athletes. I’m especially proud that the baseball teams have among the highest graduation rates of any athletic teams at Morningside.”
Scholten’s teams have compiled a 627-612-4 record during his Morningside career.
In 2008, Scholten led the Mustangs to a 32-17 record and the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) post-season tournament championship to qualify for the NAIA Region III Championships as the No. 1 seed. He guided the Mustangs to a 42-18-1 record during the 2005 campaign to set a school record for victories in a season. The Mustangs had a .697 winning percentage that season for the school's best victory rate since a 15-6 finish (.714) in 1960.
Scholten was named the 2000 North Central Conference (NCC) Coach of the Year after he guided the Mustangs to the championship game of the conference tournament.
Scholten was an assistant coach for the Sioux City Explorers of the Northern Independent League during the 2004 and 2005 seasons.
Scholten started his Morningside coaching career in 1984 after serving six years as head baseball coach at Nevada High School in Iowa. He was elected to the Iowa Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1992. He compiled a 252-94 career record for a .728 winning percentage in 12 years as a head coach at Mason City Newman and Nevada High Schools. Scholten led Mason City Newman to the 1977 Iowa Class 1A state tournament. Scholten directed Nevada to Heart of Iowa Conference championships in five of his seven seasons there.
Scholten, a native of Larchwood, Iowa, is a 1970 graduate of Loras College. He also holds a master’s degree in guidance and counseling from Iowa State University.
Scholten holds the South Dakota amateur baseball record for three pitching victories during a four-day state tournament. He accomplished the feat in 1970.
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Bill Meacham |
John Bothwell |
Bill Meacham, a senior first baseman from Sioux City, and John Bothwell, a junior pitcher from Mason City, Iowa, have been named the Hauff Mid-America Sports/Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Baseball Player and Pitcher of the Week for their performances last week.
Meacham had eight hits in 14 at-bats for a .571 batting average with a double, two home runs, and 10 RBIs to help the Mustangs go 5-0 with a win against Dordt College and GPAC doubleheader sweeps of Concordia University and Nebraska Wesleyan University. He had a home run and three RBIs in each of the Mustangs’ two wins against Nebraska Wesleyan. Meacham slugged a two-run home run in the top of the seventh inning to break a 3-3 tie in a 6-3 Morningside victory in the second game of the Nebraska Wesleyan twinbill.
Bothwell pitched a five-hit shutout with no walks and six strikeouts to lead Morningside to a 4-0 triumph in the opener of last Sunday’s doubleheader against Nebraska Wesleyan. Bothwell has a 1.55 earned run average over his last six outings to lower his season’s ERA from 14.63 to 4.38.
 Bill Meacham, a senior first baseman from Sioux City, has been named the Hauff Mid-America Sports/Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Baseball Player of the Week for his performances last week.
Meacham hit .556 with three doubles and eight RBIs to help the Mustangs win four of their five games last week. He collected 10 hits in 18 at-bats.
He went three-for-three with two doubles and four RBIs in a 17-8 victory against College of the Ozarks. Meacham has hit safely in 13 of his last 15 games and his hit .431 during that stretch to raise his season’s batting average from .176 to .368.
Morningside has won nine of its last 10 games to raise its record to 13-11 heading into this Saturday’s GPAC opener when it travels to Hastings, Neb., for a doubleheader against Hastings College.
 Steven Aschinger, a senior from Lake View, Iowa, has been named the Hauff Mid-America Sports/Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Baseball Pitcher of the Week for games played March 7-13.
Aschinger pitched a three-hit shutout in a 10-0 victory against Manhattan Christian College on March 11. He walked one and struck out five.
Aschinger has allowed only one earned run in three starts this season. He has a 2-1 record with a 0.43 earned run average. He has allowed 17 hits, walked three, and struck out 14 in 21 innings.
Morningside, 10-10, will take a six-game winning streak into doubleheaders against College of the Ozarks on Saturday and Sunday in Point Lookout, Mo.
 Morningside is picked seventh in the GPAC Baseball Coaches’ Pre-Season Poll.
The Mustangs, who are coming off a 28-28 season, received 69 points in the pre-season poll. Morningside returns four starters from a team that finished in fourth place in last year’s GPAC final standings with a 15-9 league record.
Click here for the complete 2011 GPAC Baseball Coaches’ Pre-Season Poll.
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