June 3, 2009

Cary, N.C. - The American Baseball Coaches Association announced that Grand Valley State junior second baseman Kyle Gendron has been named to the ABCA All-America third team, while Laker head coach Steve Lyon was named the Midwest Region Coach of the Year. Grand Valley State finished the 2009 campaign with a 45-16-1 record and advanced to the NCAA DII World Series for the fourth time since 2003. In addition, the Lakers also captured their seventh consecutive GLIAC title.

Gendron emerged as a leader for the Lakers offensively during the 2009 season. He tallied a .390 batting average in 59 games played and led the Lakers in hits (90), runs (67), home runs (11), RBIs (56), doubles (21), total bases (150), slugging percentage (.649) and at bats (231). Gendron set the GVSU single-season record for hits (90), doubles (21), total bases (150) and at bats (231), while recording team-high marks for multi-hit games (26) and multi-RBI games with 16. Gendron ranked nationally in 12 different offensive categories.

Lyon guided GVSU to the NCAA DII World Series for the fourth time since 2003. The Lakers' 45 wins ranked third all-time for a single season. Lyon has guided GVSU to a 420-166-2 record in his 11 years at the helm, including a 390-148 (.724) record since 2000. The Lakers' .724 winning percentage is the fourth-best in all of DII baseball during that time period.

Senior starting pitchers Andre Benjamin and Ben Knuth were joined on the ABCA All-Midwest Region second team by junior Cory Maguire and freshman outfielder Cody Grice.