ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Indiana State baseball's Mike Sears was named this week's Missouri Valley Baseball Player of the Week as announced by the conference office on Monday afternoon.
 
Sears becomes the second Sycamore to claim the conference's weekly Player of the Week honor in the 2024 season following his performances against Illinois and Belmont over the last week. He joins Luis Hernandez (Mar. 25) who also earned the MVC's weekly recognition this year.
 
Sears hit an impressive .615 on the week with eight hits over 13 at-bats with six hits going for extra-bases and driving in 10 RBI as the Sycamores posted a 3-1 week. The redshirt senior third baseman posted a .688 on-base percentage and a 1.538 slugging percentage as he connected on a trio of doubles and three home runs, while also drawing three walks.
 
Sears started the week going 1-for-3 with a double and run scored in the midweek contest against Big Ten leader Illinois. He followed up by posting a .700 batting average over the weekend series against Belmont including a pair of three-hit games as the Sycamores completed their third MVC sweep of the year and improved to 14-1 at Bob Warn Field.
 
Sears started the weekend with his third multi-homer game of the 2024 season as the third baseman connected on a three-run homer in the first inning, an RBI single in the second, and then a two-run shot in the sixth giving him a 3-for-3 day with six RBIs and two walks in the 15-5 win over Belmont on Friday. He followed up on Saturday afternoon with his third home run of the weekend as his two-run shot in the seventh inning turned a 6-5 lead into an insurmountable 8-5 advantage.
 
Sears was the difference-maker in Sunday's series finale as he connected on the game-tying RBI single in the bottom of the fifth inning, then connected on the go-ahead RBI double in the seventh scoring Parker Stinson. He scored the final run of the 6-4 win to cap a 3-for-4 day with two RBIs and two doubles in the Sycamore sweep.
 
Sears leads the Sycamores with 18 home runs and 12 doubles among his team-high 31 extra-base hits, while his .717 slugging percentage also paces Indiana State.
 
Sears' recognition marked the seventh time an Indiana State player earned MVC weekly recognition with Jacob Pruitt (Feb. 19), Brennyn Cutts (Mar. 11 & Apr. 15), Cam Edmonson (Mar. 25), Luke Hayden (Apr. 22) all earning Pitcher of the Week honors, while Hernandez (Mar. 25) took home Player of the Week honors this year.
 
Indiana State closes out their six-game home stand next weekend as the Sycamores welcome Evansville to Bob Warn Field for a three-game series over May 10-12. First pitch in Friday's opener is set for 4:30 p.m. ET on ESPNU and 105.5 The Legend.
 
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