ST. PAUL, Minn. – Macalester College junior Graham Low (Piedmont, Calif./Piedmont) was selected the MIAC Max Molock Most Valuable Player of the Year by the league's head coaches, as the conference announced its year-end awards today. Low is the first Macalester baseball player to be named MIAC Player of the Year in the history of the program.

Joining Low on the All-MIAC team are seniors Collin Brantner (Farmington, Conn./Kingswood Oxford), Ben Castagnetti (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) and Joe Trier (Madison, Wis./West), and sophomore Matthew Plisko (Alpharetta, Ga./Pace Academy). Additionally, senior Nick McMullen (Payson, Ariz./Payson) was included on the MIAC All-Sportsmanship Team.

Low had an outstanding season at the plate, batting .370 with nine doubles, two triples, seven home runs and 29 runs batted in. The catcher/designated hitter led the Scots in homers, total bases (71), slugging percentage (.710) and on-base percentage (.450) while ranking first in the MIAC in slugging, second in home runs and fifth in total bases. In a win over St. Olaf on May 2, Low went 4-for-4 with three doubles and a homer. Against Saint John's on Apr. 22, his two-run home run in the sixth turned a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 victory.

Brantner is a repeat selection on the All-MIAC team after batting .354 with four homers, 32 RBIs and a team-best 11 doubles, which rank second in the MIAC. Also a two-time All-Region honoree, he was named to the Google Cloud Academic All-District team by CoSIDA last week. In 138 career games, Brantner registered 152 hits, 38 doubles, seven triples, 14 home runs and 114 RBIs while batting .346 for his career.

Castagnetti is making his first appearance on the All-MIAC team following a senior season which saw him bat .328 with nine doubles, three triples, 15 RBIs and a team-leading nine stolen bases in 10 attempts. The third baseman also homered as a part of a 4-for-4 performance in a win over Bethany Lutheran on Mar. 25. Castagnetti completed his career with 147 hits and a .348 batting average.

Trier had a solid senior year on the mound, going 3-1 while setting a program record with an earned run average of 1.66. In 10 appearance, which included nine starts, he allowed just eight runs on 28 hits while striking out 42 and walking 19 in 43 1/3 innings. Opponents hit just .184 off of Trier, who tossed a three-hit shutout in a 5-0 victory at Gustavus on Apr. 29. For his career, Trier struck out 92 batters in 99 innings.

Plisko won a MIAC-best eight games this season, going 8-2 with an ERA of 3.81. He struck out 47 batters to rank sixth in the MIAC, and walked 25 in 52 innings over 10 starts. In conference play, Plisko was 4-0 with a 2.42 ERA to earn All-MIAC accolades for the second consecutive year. Through two seasons, he is 15-5 with a career ERA of 3.01 and 86 strikeouts.

McMullen is a two-time All-Region and All-MIAC performer who has served on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) at Macalester. This past season, the first baseman batted .291 with nine doubles, a triple and 18 RBIs. In 129 career games, McMullen registered 152 hits, 34 doubles, four triples, 16 home runs and 101 RBIs while batting .331.

Macalester, coached by Matt Parrington, finished the year with a 21-17 record overall and an 11-9 mark in the conference. The Scots qualified for their second MIAC Playoffs in a row for the first time in the program's history.

Click here to view the MIAC's release.