University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota Baseball Announces Team Awards
6/1/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Sam Steidl (Alexandria, Minn.) received two of the honors claiming the Richard "Chief" Siebert Most Valuable Player Award and the Paul Molitor Batting Champion Award. Steidl leads the team in batting average (.378), runs (62), hits (85), doubles (22) and stolen bases (20) heading into the NCAA Regionals. He is one of only two Golden Gophers to record 300 career hits and is currently in second at 307. Steidl is currently tied for eighth on the Minnesota list in career batting average at .364, is eighth in games played at 226, second in at-bats at 843, second in hits at 307, eighth in doubles with 49, sixth in total bases at 368, sixth in runs scored at 198 and fourth in stolen bases with 63. Steidl was a unanimous First-Team All-Big Ten player. It marked the second season in a row he was named First-Team All-Big Ten. Steidl has been named to an All-Big Ten team in all four seasons he has played at Minnesota.
Jake Elder (Delta, British Columbia) was named the Gopher Dugout Club Player of the Year. Elder heads into the NCAA Tournament with a .317 batting average, six home runs and 30 RBI. Elder had a team-leading six home runs in conference play and batted .353 in Big Ten play. He was named a second-team All-Big Ten catcher.
Glen Perkins (Stillwater, Minn.) was named the Dave Winfield Pitcher of the Year for the second straight season.. Perkins became only the second Minnesota pitcher to be named Big Ten Pitcher of the Year this season. He was also named the Big Ten Tournament Most Outstanding Player. Perkins is 9-2 with a 2.53 ERA and 107 strikeouts entering the NCAA Tournament. In his career he is 15-0 in Big Ten play, and 17-0 against Big Ten opposition. He has been named First-Team All-Big Ten in his freshman and sophomore seasons at Minnesota.
Andy Hunter (West St. Paul, Minn..) received the Paul Fortin Scholarship/Athlete Award. Hunter is second in the Big Ten with 64 RBI. He also leads the team in home runs with nine, and is batting .364. Hunter batted a team-leading .394 in Big Ten play. He has driven in 51 RBI in his last 41 games. Hunter was also named a CoSIDA Second-Team Academic All-American on June 1 to reinforce the reasoning behind him getting the Paul Fortin Scholarship/Athlete Award. He was also named First-Team All-Big Ten.
Craig Molldrem (Boscobel, Wis.) received the George Thomas Most Improved Player. Molldrem is 6-3 with a 3.48 ERA in 14 appearances and 10 starts this season. Molldrem went 5-1 with a 4.05 ERA in Big Ten play. He was also named Second-Team All-Big Ten. Last season, Molldrem was 1-5 with a 5.01 ERA in 15 appearances and seven starts.
One of the most prestigious honors in the program, the David Chelesnik Scholarship Award, was shared by Gary Dick (Grand Rapids, Minn.) and Jared Sanders (Merrill, Wis.) The award is presented to an athlete (s) who best demonstrates the special qualities of courage, determination and perseverance that were exhibited by David Chelesnik. The special scholarship is given in memory of an outstanding student-athlete who died of bone cancer on Labor Day, 1984, after completing one year of a lifelong dream - to play for the Golden Gophers. Dick and Sanders receiving the award, marked the second time two players have been honored for the award in the same year.
