Houston Baptist University had a plethora of awards bestowed at the completion of a spectacular season that saw the Huskies claim their first-ever Region VI title and advance to their first-ever NAIA World Series. HBU finished the season with a 43-21 record that culminated with a third-place finish in the World Series in Lewiston, Idaho, and season-ending honors were handed out shortly thereafter.
Greg Gossett was named to the NAIA All-America team, while Kory Johns earned Daktronics Scholar-Athlete honors for the second straight season. Michael Crabtree was named as the first baseman on the NAIA-Rawlings All-Gold Glove team, as well as being selected as the NAIA Hank Burbridge Champions of Character award winner.
Crabtree and Gossett joined Ryan Majewski as Avista NAIA World Series All-Tournament selections.
A junior outfielder from Kingwood, Gossett was named to the NAIA All-America team as an honorable mention selection. He led the Huskies with a .405 batting average, establishing a new single-season mark for hits with 98.
He scored 68 runs in addition to five homers and 38 RBI while leading the squad with 32 stolen bases. He was previously selected to the All-Red River and All-Region VI teams. He led the Huskies with a .550 batting average at the World Series, and tied for the most hits in the series with 11, while scoring eight times.
Johns finished off a solid two-year stint behind the plate for the Huskies with a .353 batting average in Lewiston. A senior from Needville, he batted .282 on the year with a homer and 27 RBI while fielding .981 behind the dish. He is a Business Administration and Accounting major who carries a 3.81 GPA. He joins Tim Papa and Ramon Lopez as two-time academic selections.
Michael Crabtree capped off his two-year career with the NAIA's highest Champions of Character honor, becoming the first HBU player to earn the award.
He also earned the nod as the nation's Gold Glove recipient after fielding a sparkling .991 this season with just five errors in 545 chances. He batted .344 on the season with five homers and a team-high 57 RBI, and hit .450 with a homer and nine RBI in five games at Harris Field last week.
Majewski was the Huskies second-leading hitter this year with a .357 average. He had 85 hits, second on the squad, and a team-best 10 triples, which set a new single-season mark. He also tied the record for walks with 41 while hitting four homers and driving in 35 to go with 13 stolen bases. The junior centerfielder batted .500 in Lewiston with two homers.
Houston Baptist ended its final NAIA campaign with a third-place finish at the World Series. The Huskies, who entered the series seeded ninth after receiving the final at-large to the 10-team field, raced through the loser's bracket after losing their opening game, coming one game short of playing for the national title. The Huskies played a school record 64 games, posting a 43-21 mark while capturing the Red River South title, the Region VI title and a berth into their first World Series.
The Huskies lose six seniors off this year's squad: Michael Crabtree, Kory Johns, Diego Castillo, Matt Weible, Eli Elicerio and Clay Collier.
