Three members of the Valparaiso University baseball program were recognized as the Missouri Valley Conference announced its Scholar-Athlete honors on Tuesday. Junior outfielder Alex Ryan (Lake Mills, Wis. / Lakeside Lutheran) and redshirt sophomore second baseman Nolan Tucker (Cedar Lake, Ind. / Hanover Central) were named to the MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team, while redshirt sophomore outfielder Matt Olive (sports management / Minneapolis, Minn. / Blake School) garnered MVC Scholar-Athlete Honorable Mention.

Ryan, who this year earned a place on the first team after being named 2022 MVC Scholar-Athlete Honorable Mention, owns a 3.94 cumulative grade point average in finance. He had multiple hits in four of his final seven games of the season including the MVC Tournament game against Murray State. Ryan made several outstanding defensive plays in center field over the course of the season while playing in 40 games and making 37 starts, finishing out the season as Valpo’s leadoff hitter. He had a season-high four hits on May 7 vs. Southern Illinois.

Tucker, the owner of a 3.84 cumulative GPA in management, started all 47 games this season and ranked fourth on the team in batting average at .298. The 2022 All-MVC First Team and Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Freshman All-American has earned MVC Scholar-Athlete first team status for the second straight season. In 2022, he hit .365, the team’s highest single-season batting average since 2010. Tucker went 4-for-4 with three runs scored, two walks and four RBIs on Feb. 26 of this season at UT Martin.

Olive, who owns a 3.71 cumulative GPA in sports management, posted a .344 overall batting average that ranked second on the team to go along with a team-best .470 on-base percentage and a .559 slugging percentage. He also ranked second on the squad in MVC-only batting average by hitting .368. He drilled four home runs and drove in 17 runs in 20 Valley games. After starting the season with a .217 average over his first eight appearances, Olive hit .377 in his last 18 regular-season contests. He homered in back-to-back games vs. UIC on April 21 and April 22.

Valpo was one of five teams in the 12-team league with multiple players on the MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team. Tucker was one of two players in the league to earn MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team status for the second straight season, joining Missouri State’s Cam Cratic. In addition, Tucker and Ryan account for half of the players in the conference who earned either MVC First Team or Honorable Mention last season and were on the First Team this season.

2023 MVC Baseball Scholar-Athlete First-Team

Name, School Yr. Pos. GPA Major Hometown (Previous School)

Jarrett Blunt, Evansville Gr. P 3.94 Master's Science in Leadership Ottumwa, Iowa (Omaha)

Cam Cratic, Missouri State # Sr. DH 3.83 Master's Sports Management Madison, Wis.(Madison College)

Brodey Heaton, Belmont Gr. 1B 3.82 Sport Administration Newburgh, Ind.(Castle)

Matt Jachec, Indiana State * RJr. P 3.52 Sport Management Hampshire, Ill. (Hampshire)

Sam Kirkpatrick, Belmont Jr. SS 3.96 Global Leadership Studies Franklin, Tenn.(College of the Holy Cross)

Ben Krizen, Murray State Gr. P 4.00 Business Admin/Finance North Port, Fla. (Florida A&M)

Lane Miller, Indiana State RSr. P 3.93 Communication Boonville, Ind.(Boonville)

Greg Nichols, Illinois State Jr. 2B 4.00 Criminal Justice Sciences Roseville, Calif.(Sacramento City College)

Spencer Nivens, Missouri State RSo. OF 3.67 Biology Columbia, Mo. (Rock Bridge)

Alex Ryan, Valparaiso * Jr. OF 3.94 Finance Lake Mills, Wis. (Lakeside Lutheran)

Donovan Schultz, Evansville Jr. P 3.99 Sports Communications Kimberly, Wis.(Kimberly)

Nolan Tucker, Valparaiso # RSo. 2B 3.84 Management Cedar Lake, Ind. (Hanover Central)

#2022 First-Team; *2022 Honorable Mention

2023 MVC Baseball Scholar-Athlete Honorable Mention

Name, School Yr. Pos. GPA Major Hometown (Previous School)

Tyler Denu, Evansville Sr. P 3.70 Accounting Mount Horeb, Wis.(Mount Horeb)

Nate Hardman, Evansville RJr. P 3.61 Marketing Normal, Ill.(Lincoln Land CC)

Connor Manthey, Bradley Sr. 3B 3.77 Management and Leadership Columbus, Wis.(Columbus)

Ryan Nagelbach, UIC Jr. IF 3.72 Mathematics Deerfi eld, Ill. (Deerfi eld)

Matt Olive, Valparaiso RSo. OF 3.71 Sports Management Minneapolis, Minn.(Blake School)

Charlie Szykowny, UIC Gr. IF 3.50 Marketing Palos Heights, Ill.(Wisconsin-Stout)

Evan Waggoner, Evansville So. C 3.89 Actuarial Science Bedford, Ind.(Bedford North Lawrence)