Mercer’s Kyle Lewis named Baseball America’s Player of the Year

The awards just keep rolling in for Mercer’s Kyle Lewis.

Lewis was named Baseball America’s Player of the Year on Tuesday after a dynamic junior season.

The Bears’ center fielder batted .395 with 20 home runs and 72 RBI in helping lead the team to its second straight Southern Conference regular-season championship. Lewis is expected to be a top pick in Thursday’s Major League Baseball draft.

“Being named Baseball America’s Player of the Year is a huge accomplishment for me,” Lewis said. “It’s especially satisfying to go out and play as hard as I can without thinking about stats and results. I’ve tried to be of the mindset that results will take care of themselves, and this provides me that reassurance.”

Lewis ranked second the nation in walks (66) while ranking in the top-15 nationally in batting average and the top-six nationally in home runs, RBI, on-base percentage (.535) and runs scored (70). Lewis had a 48-game on-base streak and 27 games with multiple hits.

Last week, Lewis was named a Louisville Slugger first-team All-American by Collegiate Baseball and one of of 25 Golden Spikes Award semifinalists by USA Baseball. The Golden Spikes Award is given to the top amateur player in the United States.

Lewis was the Southern Conference Player of the Year for the second straight year. He is the third player in conference history to repeat, joining The Citadel’s Richard Wieters (1976-77) and Western Carolina’s Clint Fairey (1987-89).

“It’s a great day for Kyle Lewis and Mercer University — this is an honor that couldn’t be given to a better person on and off the field,” Mercer head coach Craig Gibson said. “This is one of the top honors he’s received to this point, and he should be proud of what he’s achieved.”

This story was originally published June 7, 2016 at 9:09 AM with the headline "Mercer’s Kyle Lewis named Baseball America’s Player of the Year."