The start of the 2023 season is still two days away, but junior Aidan Brewer is already pulling in accolades for the Hillsdale College baseball team.
Brewer was the lone shortstop named to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association's preseason All-Midwest Region team, and one of 15 players recognized overall.
The shortstop is coming off a memorable 2022 campaign for the Chargers in which he was a unanimous All-Region pick to all three major awards bodies at the NCAA DII level for baseball, and earned All-American honors from two of them, including first-team honors from the NCBWA and third-team honors from the Division II Conference Commissioners Association. Brewer was just the second Hillsdale player after Luke Ortel in 2016 to be named a First Team NCAA DII All-American.
Those honors came after an offensive season for the ages, as Brewer led the G-MAC in the regular season in batting average (.435), on-base percentage (.500), total hits (81) and doubles (19), while also finishing third in OPS (1.226), fourth in RBIs (50), sixth in runs scored (50), seventh in slugging percentage (.726), eighth in home runs (11) and ninth in stolen bases. He also finished the regular season in the top 15 in the nation among NCAA DII players in batting average, total hits and on-base percentage as well.
Brewer really stood out in conference play, leading the G-MAC in batting average (.468), on-base percentage (.529) and hits (58) as well while ranking in the top 10 in every relevant offensive category except for triples.
The junior's standout 2022 campaign has him in rarefied air in Hillsdale College history, ranking in the top 10 in seven single-season categories. He's third in hits (81), sixth in batting average (.435), sixth in runs scored (50), seventh in slugging percentage (.726), second in doubles (19), seventh in RBIs (50) and tied for 10th in home runs (11). His 23 career home runs are also tied for fourth all-time at Hillsdale, just one behind third place.
Brewer will look to add another excellent season to his career marks in 2023, while also helping an experienced Chargers lineup return to the G-MAC tournament after just missing out in 2022 and do some damage once they make it there as well.'
The Chargers and Brewer kick off the season this Saturday and Sunday with a three-game series at nationally ranked Lee.
Photo by Isabella Sheehan