Valparaiso University baseball junior outfielder Ryan Maka (Oak Forest, Ill. / Oak Forest) was named to the Preseason All-Missouri Valley Conference team, which was announced by the league office on Tuesday.

Maka earned All-MVC First Team status in 2023 after he posted a .345 batting average, cracked seven home runs and drove in 43 runs while scoring 33 times, slugging .525 and reaching base at a .428 clip during a season in which he started all 47 games. The left-handed swinging outfielder hit .382 in Valley play with five home runs, seven doubles, a triple and 30 RBIs to go along with a .618 slugging percentage and .454 on-base percentage. He ranked second in the MVC in batting average and eighth in OBP.  

Maka owned a perfect fielding percentage on 96 chances in 2023. In league-only play, he ranked in the top 10 in The Valley in batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, runs scored, hits, RBIs, total bases and walks. His batting average jumped nearly 100 points last season after he hit .250 as a freshman. He launched two grand slams – April 2 vs. Murray State and May 5 vs. Southern Illinois, becoming the first Valpo player since at least 2006 with two career grand slams.

Valpo was picked ninth of 10 in the MVC preseason poll, one spot ahead of Bradley and one spot behind UIC. Indiana State was picked to win the league with Missouri State and Evansville rounding out the top three.

The Beacons will open the season on Friday, Feb. 16 by starting a three-game series with Alabama State in Montgomery, Ala.

2024 MVC PRESEASON POLL

2024 MVC PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM

1B Chase Hug, Evansville

2B Josue Urdaneta, Indiana State

3B Taeg Gollert, Missouri State

3B Mike Sears, Indiana State

SS Randal Diaz, Indiana State

SS Drew Vogel, Murray State

C Grant Magill, Indiana State

OF Ryan Maka, Valparaiso

OF Dusty Mercer, Murray State

OF Zack Stewart, Missouri State

SP Jake Combs, Southern Illinois

SP Brandt Thompson, Missouri State

RP Garrett Ferguson, Missouri State

RP Jared Spencer, Indiana State