Drake named MVC baseball player of the week

Missouri State senior third baseman Brayden Drake has been selected as this week’s Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week after he homered and had three RBIs in all four Missouri State wins last week.

Drake hit .588 with 12 RBIs and six runs scored. He also doubled twice and was hit by four pitches to slug 1.412 and collect a .667 on-base percentage in 21 trips to the plate.

Drake went 4-for-5 with a homer, double, three RBIs and two runs while reaching base five times Tuesday at Missouri, and had another three hits and reached base four times at Creighton on Friday. In that game, he hit a solo homer in the eighth with the Bears trailing 4-2, then blasted a two-run double to win the game with the score tied 4-4 in the ninth.

The Webb City, Mo., native reached base four more times Saturday at Rosenblatt Stadium, homering to tie the game with the Bears trailing 3-2 in the fifth and hitting a two-run single in the seventh for MSU’s eighth and ninth runs in the 10-7 win. He was also hit by two pitches.

On Sunday, Drake belted a two-run homer in the sixth to add to MSU’s 1-0 lead, then put down a squeeze bunt in the eighth for Missouri State’s fourth run in the 8-3 win.