Already cited as one of the top shortstops in the NCAA Division II Baseball Central Region by three different organizations, University of Minnesota Duluth junior Tyler Erickson added 2010 Daktronics All-America honorable mention honors to his award haul.
Erickson, an Alexandria, Minn., native, becomes just the third UMD All-American honoree in school history. The three-year regular is the first since Tim Garceau took home second team awards in 2005 - the other was Tim Battaglia in 2003 as a first team member. Both of those Bulldogs were members of the Rawlings/American Baseball Coaches Association All-American squad.
Six club single-season marks fell at Erickson's feet in 2010, including fielding assists (164), at bats (223), hits (94), runs scored (77), games played and started (56). He also recorded a program-best 29-game hitting streak in 2010, reaching base safely in all but two games this season overall. The three-year regular also notched 24 multi-hit games and had 12 with three or more hits. Erickson paced the Bulldogs in multiple offensive categories including batting average (.422), on-base percentage (.486), runs scored, hits, triples (four), stolen bases (20), plate appearances (255) and at bats.
Erickson has already collected numerous honors after a stellar performance this year, already being picked as a first team member of both the Daktronics and National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Central Region squads. He was also a member of the 16-man Rawlings/ACBA second team for the central region and received Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference first team honors, this season.
UMD finished 2010 with a 36-20 overall record and a 22-10 mark in NSIC
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play - both bests in Bulldog head coach Bob Rients' five-year reign.
The 36 wins tied a school record for victories in a season.