RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. - Concordia-St. Paul senior Bennett McCollow has been chosen as National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Preseason All-Central Region as a designated hitter, as announced on Tuesday afternoon.

It's the second preseason honor for McCollow, who last week was named a D2 Baseball Preseason All-America First Team at second base. The CSP slugger spent nearly equal time at DH and second base a year ago when he was named NCBWA All-Central Region Second Team at DH and D2 Baseball All-America Second Team at second base, effectively bumping up a team on each award entering 2025.

Last year, he slashed .424/.511/.696 (81-191) in 51 games, leading the Northern Sun in on-base percentage and ranking second in the conference with a 1.207 OPS (OBP+SLG) en route to being named the NSIC Newcomer of the Year and an All-NSIC First Team selection. He also produced in the postseason, producing a .444/.444/.722 (8-18) with a pair of doubles and a home run while helping lead CSP to one of the last four teams standing in the double-elimination tournament field.

Among his 51 games last season, McCollow earned 28 starts as the designated hitter, 22 at second base and one at shortstop.

The NCBWA is comprised of a committee of College Sports Communicators who cover baseball in the NCAA's Central Region, representing the Northern Sun (NSIC), Mid-America (MIAA) and Great American (GAC) conferences.
 

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#21 Bennett McCollow (IF, 5-10, 190, Sr., R/R, Bloomington, Minn. / Jefferson HS / North Iowa Area CC)

• 2025 D2 Baseball Preseason All-America First Team (2B)
• 2025 NCBWA Preseason All-Central Region (DH)
• 2024 D2 Baseball All-America Second Team (2B)
• 2024 64 Analytics D2 All-America (DH)
• 2024 All-Central Region Second Team (ABCA/Rawlings, D2CCA & NCBWA)
• 2024 NSIC Newcomer of the Year
• 2024 All-NSIC First Team
• 2024 NSIC All-Tournament Team
• NSIC Player of the Week (5/6/2024)
• Slashed .424/.511/.696 (81-191) in 51 games for the Golden Bears
• Led the NSIC in OBP (.511), ranking 40th in Division II
• Ranked second in the NSIC with a 1.207 OPS
• Ranked 20th in Division II with a .424 average, second-best in the NSIC
• Ranked second in the NSIC with 1.25 runs per game, 37th in Division II
• Fifth-ranked slugging percentage (.696) in the Northern Sun
• Also ranked in the top-10 in the league in doubles (3rd), hits (4th), total bases (7th), RBIs (8th)
• Tallied 81 hits, including 18 doubles, 10 home runs and two triples
• Added 64 runs, 52 RBIs and 25 walks
• Hit for the cycle against Minnesota Duluth and collected a grand slam against Sioux Falls

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2025 NCBWA Preseason All-Central Region
 

C	Nixon Brannan, Pittsburg State
1B	Dylan Bradford, NW Oklahoma State
2B	Kalem Haney, UMary
SS	Jack Hines, Augustana*
3B	Jacob Steele, Central Missouri
OF (3)	Camden Tanner, Arkansas-Monticello*
	Payton McHarg, Washburn*
	Carson Wright, NW Oklahoma State
DH	Bennett McCollow, Concordia-St. Paul
UTL	Cash Jay, Washburn
SP (3)	Cole Gayman, Missouri Southern State
	Conner Wolf, Central Missouri
	Maddox Long, Harding+
	Ashton Michek, Augustana+
RP	Valek Cisneros, Central Oklahoma

 
* - Unanimous Selection
+ - tie in voting