KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association announced new Athletes of the Week from the sixth week of the 2026 baseball season. Central Missouri swept week six’s honors with Cole Kreisel named the Hitter of the Week and Gavin Williams named the Pitcher of the Week.
MIAA HITTER OF THE WEEK: Cole Kreisel, Central Missouri
Cole Kreisel hit .600 with six hits in 10 at-bats to help No. 4 Central Missouri to a 2-1 MIAA series win over Missouri Western. The sophomore infielder tallied a double, a home run, two RBI, a 1.000 slugging percentage, one walk, a .733 on-base percentage, and four stolen bases in four attempts on the week. In the Mules’ 16-0 win in game two of Saturday’s doubleheader, Kreisel went 2-for-2 with three runs and a double before going 3-for-3 with his second homer of the season, five runs, an RBI, and three stolen bases in the Mules' 13-3 win in the series finale on Sunday.
MIAA PITCHER OF THE WEEK: Gavin Williams, Central Missouri
In his first career start, Gavin Williams threw the ninth no-hitter in Mules Baseball history in Central Missouri’s 16-0, seven-inning shutout win over Missouri Western in game two of a doubleheader on Saturday, March 7, in Warrensburg. His no-hitter was the first since the Mules threw a combined no-no in 2018 and the first solo no-hitter since Danny Powers in 2004. He is just the seventh Mules baseball player to throw a solo no-hitter in program history. The freshman gave up zero earned runs on zero hits with a career-high 11 strikeouts and just two walks on 101 pitches in the 16-0, run-rule win over the Griffons.
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:
MIAA HITTERS
Jake Mitchell, Rogers State
Jake Mitchell started in all four games at first base in Rogers State’s 4-0 series sweep of Minnesota-Duluth last weekend. The senior slashed .500/.611/.857 with seven hits, seven RBI, four walks and added three stolen bases. Three of his seven hits were for extra bases as he recorded his fifth home run of the season and added a pair of doubles. On defense, Mitchell recorded 29 putouts, including three double plays, with no errors at first.
Ian Luce, Washburn
Ian Luce led the Ichabod offense at the top of the order on the week, hitting .500 with a .591 on-base percentage and a .778 slugging percentage. The junior outfielder totaled nine hits on the week while driving in seven runs and scoring six himself. In Washburn's 19-11 victory over Central Oklahoma, Luce went 4-for-6 at the plate with six RBI, three runs scored with a home run and a walk as well.
Logan Myers, Emporia State
Logan Myers went 7-for-13 with three doubles, one home run, three RBI and five runs scored in Emporia’s MIAA home series against the Gorillas. The junior second baseman opened the weekend going 4-for-4 with a home run and two doubles to help the Hornets to a 14-2 victory. He also finished 2-for-5 with a double and two runs scored in the series finale.
MIAA PITCHERS
Spencer Hatch, Rogers State
Spencer Hatch (2-1) was dominant on the mound in the Hillcats’ 17-2 game three victory over Minnesota-Duluth. The sophomore picked up his second straight win of the season after pitching a career-high 6.0 innings and allowing just two earned runs on five hits. He also struck out a career-high 13 batters and issued only one walk.
Kai Bennett, Washburn
Bennett threw 6.0 scoreless innings in Saturday's 5-1 win over the Bronchos, allowing just three hits and three walks while striking out six to help secure a series victory and earn his first win on the mound this season.
Caleb Camp, Fort Hays State
Caleb Camp recorded a 3.2 inning save and appeared twice in the Tigers’ MIAA series sweep of Arkansas-Fort Smith. The sophomore picked up the save in the 5-1 win in game two before going in to record the last two outs of the 10-5 win to close the series. He totaled four strikeouts and posted a 0.91 opponent batting average in 4.1 innings of work for the week.
ALSO NOMINATED:
HITTERS – Brayden Luikart [Missouri Southern], Antonio Avila [Fort Hays State], Frank Gall [Northwest Missouri], Luke Shannahan [Missouri Western], Castle Caleb [Central Oklahoma], Stephen Osborne [Northeastern State]
PITCHERS – Seth Stover [Emporia State], Jackson Hill [Northeastern State], Ty Blecha [Pittsburg State], Gage Busby [Northwest Missouri], Cole Evans [Missouri Western]
WEEK ONE HITTER: Derek Woolwine, Fort Hays State
WEEK ONE PITCHER: Colby Deaver, Emporia State
--
WEEK TWO HITTER: Landin Midgett, Pittsburg State
WEEK TWO PITCHER: Cole Evans, Missouri Western
--
WEEK THREE HITTER: Drake Lee, Central Oklahoma
WEEK THREE PITCHERS: Braxton Jones, Central Oklahoma and Colby Deaver, Emporia State
--
WEEK FOUR HITTER: Noah Steele, Emporia State
WEEK FOUR PITCHER: Colby Deaver, Emporia State
--
WEEK FIVE HITTER: Noah Steele, Emporia State
WEEK FIVE PITCHER: Colby Deaver, Emporia State
--
WEEK SIX HITTER: Cole Kreisel, Central Missouri
WEEK SIX PITCHER: Gavin Williams, Central Missouri