TULSA, Okla. – To no surprise, Mike Boeve was named Summit League Player of the Year on Tuesday.
Also not surprising was the way Omaha’s star third baseman shrugged off his conference’s top honor.
“It’s nice to see the recognition but, obviously, we’re worried about the conference tournament,” Boeve said. “We want to come out on top with a conference tournament title at the end of the day.”
The Mavericks are scheduled to take on regular-season champion North Dakota State on Wednesday at 12:05 p.m. in the opening round of the Summit League tournament at J.L. Johnson Stadium. The winner of the four-team double-elimination event receives and automatic bid to the NCAA tourney’s field of 64.
Boeve was waiting in the hotel lobby prior to Omaha’s late-morning practice when he received the news of his honor. On a rainy day, he and the Mavericks were forced to practice inside while at Oral Roberts.
The league’s top player took a brief timeout between sessions in the batting cage to do a prescheduled radio interview on a sport talk show in central Nebraska, not far from where he grew up in Hastings. The sophomore immediately grabbed his bat and went back to work on his swing when he was through.
“I’m going to try to keep working hard, stay consistent in what I do and see what happens,” he said.
Boeve earned the Summit League honor following a season in which he was among the conference’s leaders in nearly every offensive category. Currently on a 29-game hitting streak, he’s batting .369.
Joining Boeve on the Summit’s All-League First Team is starting pitcher Caleb Riedel, who was also named the conference’s Newcomer of the Year. The lefty ranks among the national leaders in ERA.
Maverick teammates Harrison Denk and Mark Timmins were chosen to the Second Team. Denk batted .329 during conference play this season while Timmins put up a 1.80 ERA over his eight Summit starts.
