COLUMBUS, Miss. – The W senior baseball standout
Zach Johnson was voted as the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) Player of the Year, heading the list of four MUW players to earn All-SLIAC recognition.
Chase Marshall (Moody, Ala.),
Baron Brack (Pike Road, Ala.), and
Matthew Windham (Chelsea, Ala.) all joined Johnson with all-conference honors.
In addition, senior
Griffin Fuller (Birmingham, Ala.) was named to the SLIAC's All-Sportsmanship Team.
In earning The W's first-ever SLIAC Player of the Year award in baseball and first-team All-SLIAC status, Johnson, who played rightfield and some first base, appeared among the league leaders in several categories. Johnson topped the SLIAC in runs scored (39), was third in total hits (37), third in home runs (7), seventh in runs batted in (27), fourth in slugging percentage (.667), third in sacrifice flies (4), sixth in steals (14-17), seventh in OPS (1.143), and eighth in walks (17). Johnson hit .374 in SLIAC games and .409 overall for the season (the third-highest batting average for a season in MUW history).
For the 2026 campaign, Johnson hit safely in 20 of 23 SLIAC games. 14 of those were multi-hit games, as well.
Johnson was also a first-team All-SLIAC award winner in 2025, as well as an all-region pick.
Marshall and Brack joined Johnson as first-team All-SLIAC honorees. Marshall, a junior middle infielder who came to The W by way of Bevil State Community College, led the MUW regulars in conference hitting, with a .390 average (32-82). His average ranked seventh in the SLIAC stats, while also appearing among the leaders for walks (3rd/20), OPS (5th/1.176), slugging percentage (5th/.667), homers (6th/5), on-base average (6th/.509), and RBI (8th/27).
Brack, a senior, was the Owls' designated hitter and also played some outfield in left. Brack had a slash line of .387/.645/.483, starting all 24 SLIAC games. He led the circuit in triples (3), RBI (40), and sacrifice flies (5). He was also among the SLIAC's top spots in total hits (9th/36), slugging percentage (7th), OPS (8th/1.128), and runs (11th/29).
This is Brack's third All-SLIAC recognition. He was previously voted second team in 2025 and third team in 2024.
Windham, a senior centerfielder with elite defensive skills, was a third-team All-SLIAC award winner. Previously, he was also voted to the second team All-SLIAC as a sophomore in 2024. Windham, who hit .340 in the SLIAC, was second in SLIAC statistics for at-bats (106), third in runs (36), third in triples (3), fifth in sacrifice flies (4), seventh in total hits (36), and 11th in homers (4).
Defensively, Windham made just two errors in 79 total chances, a percentage of .975. He had two outfield assists in SLIAC games, as well.
