Michigan State University Athletics
Photo by: Erin Grady/MSU Athletic Communications
MSU Baseball Presents 2026 Team Awards
6/4/2026 3:23:00 PM | Baseball
Donovan collects John Kobs Most Valuable Player and Robin Roberts Most Valuable Pitcher awards; Thomas tabbed both Danny Litwhiler Defensive Player of the Year and Steve Garvey Most Improved Player awards.
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Michigan State baseball head coach Jake Boss Jr. announced the winners of the 2025 team awards.
All of the awards were voted on by the players with the exception of the Offensive Player of the Year award, which is based on various statistical data over the course of the season.
Sophomore pitcher Aidan Donovan was named the recipient of both the John Kobs Most Valuable Player and Robin Roberts Most Valuable Pitcher Awards. This marks the second-straight season that the same player received both awards, after Joseph Dzierwa collected both accolades last year, which was the first time since 2018 that the same player didn't win both the John Kobs MVP and Kirk Gibson Offensive Player of the Year Award.Â
Fellow sophomore, outfielder Khamaree Thomas joined Donovan as a multi-award recipient, as he earned the Danny Litwhiler Defensive Player of the Year and the Steve Garvey Most Improved Player Awards.Â
Thomas' outfielder mates, sophomore Parker Picot and senior Nick Williams shared the Kirk Gibson Co-Offensive Player of the Year Award. Senior infielder Randy Seymour earned the Jerry Sutton Student-Athlete Award. Junior pitcher Josh Klug and senior catcher/designated hitter Noah Bright were named Craig Hendricks Co-Spartan Spirit Award recipients.Â
Donovan, a native of Commerce, Michigan, was the Spartans' primary Friday night starter, making 15 starts on the mound, leading MSU with six wins, including five in Big Ten play on the way to earning Second-Team All-B1G honors. The six wins tied for 10th overall in the B1G, while the five conference wins tied for fourth in B1G only games, part of a seven-way tie for fourth, including with USC's Mason Edwards, who was named the B1G Pitcher of the Year.Â
During the regular season, Donovan tied for the league lead in games started with 14 starts, finishing with 15 overall starts, tying for sixth in the conference. Additionally, Donovan was sixth in the B1G in fewest walks allowed per nine innings (2.16), with just 21 total walks in 87.1 IP. He was also 10th in the Big Ten with a 3.71 ERA. Additionally, Donovan was eighth in the B1G in WHIP (1.23).
Donovan had a stretch where he yielded just six earned runs in a span of four outings in 27.1 IP, for an ERA of 1.99 over those four starts. Highlighting that spurt was no earned runs in 7.0 IP vs. Iowa on March 20 and one earned run in 8.0 IP at Northwestern on April 3. Donovan finished with a combined two earned runs in his final two outings, not allowing a run in 3.0 IP in his regular-season finale action vs. Illinois State on May 14, then held No. 5 seed Purdue to just two earned runs in 7.2 IP in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament in No. 12 seed MSU's upset of the Boilermakers.Â
Donovan had seven outings racking up five or more strikeouts, including in three of his final five outings of the season, highlighted by a career-high seven Ks vs. Maryland on April 25 in 6.0 IP, topping his previous career-best that was set just two games before with six strikeouts vs. Michigan on April 11.
Picot, a native of Rochester Hills, Michigan, led MSU and was fourth in the B1G in slugging percentage (.669), ranking second on the team and tied for 16th in the league in home runs with 14. The 14 homers ranks tied for eighth on MSU's single-season home runs list, and was just two shy of team-leader Randy Seymour's 16. Of Picot's 14 HRs on the season, nine of them came in a span of 11 games from May 3-19, starting the spurt with a pair of HRs on May 3 vs. No. 1 UCLA, adding two HRs in the regular-season finale vs. Illinois State on May 16, with a homer in MSU's B1G Tournament opening game and upset of No. 5 seed Purdue.Â
After Picot opened the season with a whopping eight RBI in game two of the season, he hit a cold stretch where his average was at .088 on March 18 and 20, before starting to climb out of the slump on March 24, then reaching peak climbing speed on April 11, hitting .432 from a span of April 11-May 3, with his average reaching .271 after the May 3 outing vs. No. 1 UCLA going 3-for-5 with two HR. Picot's average peaked at .298 after the series opener vs. Illinois State on May 14, when he went 3-for-3 and extended his season-long hit streak to nine games, before it came to an end after going without a hit in the loss the next day, but then bounced back with two hits, both for HR, in the series and regular-season finale on May 16, moving up to .290 average, finishing at .287. Picot's hit .298 in the second half of the season, including .341 over the final 10 games.Â
Picot played in 43 games, and was also second on the team with 41 RBI, for a 0.95 RBI/game average, and was tied for fifth on the team with 10 doubles.
Williams, a Racine, Wisconsin native, finished the season with a 16-game hitting streak, the longest of the season by a Spartan player and the longest since 2024, matching teammate Ryan McKay's streak from 2024. He hit .508 during the 16-game hit streak, averaging 2.0 hits per game, with 32 total hits, logging 15 RBI, nine doubles, two triples and three HR, as well as drawing 12 walks, and only striking out four times in the 63 at bats. Out of the 16 games during the streak, Williams had 12 multi-hit games, including his season-high of three hits done four times during the hitting streak, doing so in back-to-back games with 3-for-4 with three RBI vs. No. 1 UCLA on May 3 then a 3-for-3 outing two days later vs. Bowling Green.Â
Williams also led MSU and ranked fifth in the B1G in toughest to strikeout, with just one K every 8.7 at bats, with just 20 strikeouts on the season in 174 at bats. He also topped MSU and ranked tied for 21st in the B1G in average (.333). Williams also ended the season reaching base in 22-straight games, as the 22-game reached base streak was the second longest of the season, just one shy of team-leader Khamaree Thomas. Williams also led MSU with 20 multiple hit games, logging the aforementioned season-high of three hits in four games, while knocking two hits in 16 games.
He was also second on the team in both on-base percentage (.434) and doubles (14), tied for second in triples (2), along with third in slugging percentage (.667) and runs (39), and tied for third in both hits (58) and home runs (6).
Thomas, a native of Chicago, Illinois, went from playing in five games with one start last season, hitting .167 for the year going 1-for-6 at the plate, to playing in 51 games and making 50 starts this season, hitting .319 with 58 hits. He had more hits in 18 games than he did all of last season, with 18 multiple-hit games, ranking second on the team, posting two hits in 14 games, while adding three hits in three games and a season-high four hits coming on April 14 vs. Oakland. Thomas had a season-long eight game hitting streak from May 8-19, which started after going hitless in one game after a seven-game hit streak from April 24-May 5, marking having at least one hit in 14 of 15 games.
He also led MSU with eight stolen bases and 21 walks, and also topped the team with six sacrifice bunts, which ranked tied for ninth in the Big Ten. Thomas also ranked second on the team in runs (40), third in batting average (.319), on-base percentage (.402) and doubles (12), tied for third in hits (58), fourth in RBI (31) and fifth in total bases (76). He was fifth on the team in games played (51), while ranking tied for third in games started (50), making 31 starts in center field, 10 in left field and nine at designated hitter.Â
Seymour is a native of Frankfurt, Illinois, and will graduate next fall with his degree in mechanical engineering. He is currently a two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree, and is expected to earn his third accolade of his career, when the awards are announced by the conference office later this month.Â
After playing shortstop and third base last season, Seymour shifted to first base this season, and was one of two Spartans to start in all 56 games, making 55 starts at first base and one at designated hitter. Seymour smacked 16 home runs this season, moving into a four-way tie for second on Michigan State's single-season home run list, tying Spartan great Kirk Gibson with 16 in 1978, along with Matt Riggins in 1996 and Bob Malek in 2002. Seymour pulled away from a tie for No. 5 with former teammate Sam Busch. The 16 HR was more than double of Seymour's career HR total of seven entering this season. Seymour tied for 15th on MSU's career HR list with 23 for his four-year career as a Spartan.
Seymour tied for 11th in B1G only games in HR with eight. Along with topped the team in HR, Seymour also led MSU in both RBI (55) and total bases (122), in addition to ranking second in hits (60), tied for second in triples (2), hit by pitch (9), fourth in slugging percentage (.533) and runs (34), plus tied for fifth in both doubles (10) and stolen bases (4).
Klug and Bright share the Craig Hendricks Spartan Spirit Award, after former teammate Dominic Pianto had earned the award the previous two seasons, graduating last year.Â
A native of Traverse City, Michigan, Klug was first base coach for most of the games during the season, greeting Spartan baserunners at first base with a unique handshake, and was a veteran leader for the Spartan pitchers, always among the first players out of the dugout offering support and congratulations to his teammates. Klug made seven appearances on the mound with 4.2 IP.
Bright, a native of Macomb, Michigan, made 25 starts at catcher, and was a veteran leader for the Spartan team, especially with the pitchers, offering support and guidance. He finished the season strong with at least one hit in 10 of the 12 final games, including four multiple hit outings, highlighted by four hits in the regular-season finale vs. Illinois State on Senior Celebrations Day.Â
He made sure it was a bright and joyous day with a "walk-off" grand slam for his first collegiate grand slam in his final at bat in a home game for the Green & White in the 18-8, 8-inning, run-rule Victory for MSU on May 16. It was the second-straight season that MSU's regular-season concluded with a walk-off, as in 2025, Randy Seymour delivered the walk-off single for an 11-10 walk-off Victory for MSU over Minnesota. Bright's homer capped all three seniors in the line-up to hit a home run in their final home game as Spartans, joining infielder Randy Seymour and outfielder Nick Williams in going yard.
Bright, who wore jersey number 18, had the 18th hit of the day and scored the 18th run of the game, and was mobbed by his teammates at home plate to cap a joyous Spartan Senior Celebrations Day.
For the season, Bright was tied for third on the team in home runs (6), while ranking fourth in on-base percentage (.390) and tied for fifth in runs scored (30). He hit .288 with 45 hits, six doubles, 25 RBI and 19 walks.Â
Michigan State finished the 2026 season with a 24-32 overall record after winning two games at B1G Tournament for the first time since 2016, and the sixth time in MSU's 10 B1G Tournament appearances under Coach Boss. Overall, it was the eighth time winning at least two games in the Spartans' 17 total B1G Tournament appearances.Â
MSU made history as the first No. 12 seed to win not just one but two games in the B1G Tournament, upsetting No. 5 seed Purdue, 8-4, in the opening game of the tournament, then knocking off No. 8 seed Iowa, 4-3, to reach the tourney quarterfinals, where they drew No. 4 seed USC, falling to the Trojans, 7-0. USC is currently playing in the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Super Regionals.
Spartan baseball said farewell to its 11 seniors, including one student manager, two members of the social media squad and eight players. The Spartan baseball seniors of players Noah Bright, JD Greeley, Nolan Higgins, Carter Monke, Randy Seymour, Andrew Siler, Tommy Szczepanski and Nick Williams, along with student manager Frankie Lollo, social media squad members Sedona Bassler and Becca Gawenda, along with all had their final game as Spartans.Â
Fans can stay tuned to MSUSpartans.com and @MSUBaseball on Twitter for offseason news and updates.
2026 Michigan State Baseball Team Awards
John Kobs Most Valuable Player: Aidan Donovan
Robin Roberts Most Valuable Pitcher: Aidan Donovan
Kirk Gibson Co-Offensive Player of the Year: Parker Picot / Nick Williams
Danny Litwhiler Defensive Player of the Year: Khamaree Thomas
Steve Garvey Most Improved Player: Khamaree Thomas
Jerry Sutton Student-Athlete Award: Randy Seymour
Craig Hendricks Co-Spartan Spirit Award: Noah Bright / Josh Klug
All of the awards were voted on by the players with the exception of the Offensive Player of the Year award, which is based on various statistical data over the course of the season.
Sophomore pitcher Aidan Donovan was named the recipient of both the John Kobs Most Valuable Player and Robin Roberts Most Valuable Pitcher Awards. This marks the second-straight season that the same player received both awards, after Joseph Dzierwa collected both accolades last year, which was the first time since 2018 that the same player didn't win both the John Kobs MVP and Kirk Gibson Offensive Player of the Year Award.Â
Fellow sophomore, outfielder Khamaree Thomas joined Donovan as a multi-award recipient, as he earned the Danny Litwhiler Defensive Player of the Year and the Steve Garvey Most Improved Player Awards.Â
Thomas' outfielder mates, sophomore Parker Picot and senior Nick Williams shared the Kirk Gibson Co-Offensive Player of the Year Award. Senior infielder Randy Seymour earned the Jerry Sutton Student-Athlete Award. Junior pitcher Josh Klug and senior catcher/designated hitter Noah Bright were named Craig Hendricks Co-Spartan Spirit Award recipients.Â
Donovan, a native of Commerce, Michigan, was the Spartans' primary Friday night starter, making 15 starts on the mound, leading MSU with six wins, including five in Big Ten play on the way to earning Second-Team All-B1G honors. The six wins tied for 10th overall in the B1G, while the five conference wins tied for fourth in B1G only games, part of a seven-way tie for fourth, including with USC's Mason Edwards, who was named the B1G Pitcher of the Year.Â
During the regular season, Donovan tied for the league lead in games started with 14 starts, finishing with 15 overall starts, tying for sixth in the conference. Additionally, Donovan was sixth in the B1G in fewest walks allowed per nine innings (2.16), with just 21 total walks in 87.1 IP. He was also 10th in the Big Ten with a 3.71 ERA. Additionally, Donovan was eighth in the B1G in WHIP (1.23).
Donovan had a stretch where he yielded just six earned runs in a span of four outings in 27.1 IP, for an ERA of 1.99 over those four starts. Highlighting that spurt was no earned runs in 7.0 IP vs. Iowa on March 20 and one earned run in 8.0 IP at Northwestern on April 3. Donovan finished with a combined two earned runs in his final two outings, not allowing a run in 3.0 IP in his regular-season finale action vs. Illinois State on May 14, then held No. 5 seed Purdue to just two earned runs in 7.2 IP in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament in No. 12 seed MSU's upset of the Boilermakers.Â
Donovan had seven outings racking up five or more strikeouts, including in three of his final five outings of the season, highlighted by a career-high seven Ks vs. Maryland on April 25 in 6.0 IP, topping his previous career-best that was set just two games before with six strikeouts vs. Michigan on April 11.
Picot, a native of Rochester Hills, Michigan, led MSU and was fourth in the B1G in slugging percentage (.669), ranking second on the team and tied for 16th in the league in home runs with 14. The 14 homers ranks tied for eighth on MSU's single-season home runs list, and was just two shy of team-leader Randy Seymour's 16. Of Picot's 14 HRs on the season, nine of them came in a span of 11 games from May 3-19, starting the spurt with a pair of HRs on May 3 vs. No. 1 UCLA, adding two HRs in the regular-season finale vs. Illinois State on May 16, with a homer in MSU's B1G Tournament opening game and upset of No. 5 seed Purdue.Â
After Picot opened the season with a whopping eight RBI in game two of the season, he hit a cold stretch where his average was at .088 on March 18 and 20, before starting to climb out of the slump on March 24, then reaching peak climbing speed on April 11, hitting .432 from a span of April 11-May 3, with his average reaching .271 after the May 3 outing vs. No. 1 UCLA going 3-for-5 with two HR. Picot's average peaked at .298 after the series opener vs. Illinois State on May 14, when he went 3-for-3 and extended his season-long hit streak to nine games, before it came to an end after going without a hit in the loss the next day, but then bounced back with two hits, both for HR, in the series and regular-season finale on May 16, moving up to .290 average, finishing at .287. Picot's hit .298 in the second half of the season, including .341 over the final 10 games.Â
Picot played in 43 games, and was also second on the team with 41 RBI, for a 0.95 RBI/game average, and was tied for fifth on the team with 10 doubles.
Williams, a Racine, Wisconsin native, finished the season with a 16-game hitting streak, the longest of the season by a Spartan player and the longest since 2024, matching teammate Ryan McKay's streak from 2024. He hit .508 during the 16-game hit streak, averaging 2.0 hits per game, with 32 total hits, logging 15 RBI, nine doubles, two triples and three HR, as well as drawing 12 walks, and only striking out four times in the 63 at bats. Out of the 16 games during the streak, Williams had 12 multi-hit games, including his season-high of three hits done four times during the hitting streak, doing so in back-to-back games with 3-for-4 with three RBI vs. No. 1 UCLA on May 3 then a 3-for-3 outing two days later vs. Bowling Green.Â
Williams also led MSU and ranked fifth in the B1G in toughest to strikeout, with just one K every 8.7 at bats, with just 20 strikeouts on the season in 174 at bats. He also topped MSU and ranked tied for 21st in the B1G in average (.333). Williams also ended the season reaching base in 22-straight games, as the 22-game reached base streak was the second longest of the season, just one shy of team-leader Khamaree Thomas. Williams also led MSU with 20 multiple hit games, logging the aforementioned season-high of three hits in four games, while knocking two hits in 16 games.
He was also second on the team in both on-base percentage (.434) and doubles (14), tied for second in triples (2), along with third in slugging percentage (.667) and runs (39), and tied for third in both hits (58) and home runs (6).
Thomas, a native of Chicago, Illinois, went from playing in five games with one start last season, hitting .167 for the year going 1-for-6 at the plate, to playing in 51 games and making 50 starts this season, hitting .319 with 58 hits. He had more hits in 18 games than he did all of last season, with 18 multiple-hit games, ranking second on the team, posting two hits in 14 games, while adding three hits in three games and a season-high four hits coming on April 14 vs. Oakland. Thomas had a season-long eight game hitting streak from May 8-19, which started after going hitless in one game after a seven-game hit streak from April 24-May 5, marking having at least one hit in 14 of 15 games.
He also led MSU with eight stolen bases and 21 walks, and also topped the team with six sacrifice bunts, which ranked tied for ninth in the Big Ten. Thomas also ranked second on the team in runs (40), third in batting average (.319), on-base percentage (.402) and doubles (12), tied for third in hits (58), fourth in RBI (31) and fifth in total bases (76). He was fifth on the team in games played (51), while ranking tied for third in games started (50), making 31 starts in center field, 10 in left field and nine at designated hitter.Â
Seymour is a native of Frankfurt, Illinois, and will graduate next fall with his degree in mechanical engineering. He is currently a two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree, and is expected to earn his third accolade of his career, when the awards are announced by the conference office later this month.Â
After playing shortstop and third base last season, Seymour shifted to first base this season, and was one of two Spartans to start in all 56 games, making 55 starts at first base and one at designated hitter. Seymour smacked 16 home runs this season, moving into a four-way tie for second on Michigan State's single-season home run list, tying Spartan great Kirk Gibson with 16 in 1978, along with Matt Riggins in 1996 and Bob Malek in 2002. Seymour pulled away from a tie for No. 5 with former teammate Sam Busch. The 16 HR was more than double of Seymour's career HR total of seven entering this season. Seymour tied for 15th on MSU's career HR list with 23 for his four-year career as a Spartan.
Seymour tied for 11th in B1G only games in HR with eight. Along with topped the team in HR, Seymour also led MSU in both RBI (55) and total bases (122), in addition to ranking second in hits (60), tied for second in triples (2), hit by pitch (9), fourth in slugging percentage (.533) and runs (34), plus tied for fifth in both doubles (10) and stolen bases (4).
Klug and Bright share the Craig Hendricks Spartan Spirit Award, after former teammate Dominic Pianto had earned the award the previous two seasons, graduating last year.Â
A native of Traverse City, Michigan, Klug was first base coach for most of the games during the season, greeting Spartan baserunners at first base with a unique handshake, and was a veteran leader for the Spartan pitchers, always among the first players out of the dugout offering support and congratulations to his teammates. Klug made seven appearances on the mound with 4.2 IP.
Bright, a native of Macomb, Michigan, made 25 starts at catcher, and was a veteran leader for the Spartan team, especially with the pitchers, offering support and guidance. He finished the season strong with at least one hit in 10 of the 12 final games, including four multiple hit outings, highlighted by four hits in the regular-season finale vs. Illinois State on Senior Celebrations Day.Â
He made sure it was a bright and joyous day with a "walk-off" grand slam for his first collegiate grand slam in his final at bat in a home game for the Green & White in the 18-8, 8-inning, run-rule Victory for MSU on May 16. It was the second-straight season that MSU's regular-season concluded with a walk-off, as in 2025, Randy Seymour delivered the walk-off single for an 11-10 walk-off Victory for MSU over Minnesota. Bright's homer capped all three seniors in the line-up to hit a home run in their final home game as Spartans, joining infielder Randy Seymour and outfielder Nick Williams in going yard.
Bright, who wore jersey number 18, had the 18th hit of the day and scored the 18th run of the game, and was mobbed by his teammates at home plate to cap a joyous Spartan Senior Celebrations Day.
For the season, Bright was tied for third on the team in home runs (6), while ranking fourth in on-base percentage (.390) and tied for fifth in runs scored (30). He hit .288 with 45 hits, six doubles, 25 RBI and 19 walks.Â
Michigan State finished the 2026 season with a 24-32 overall record after winning two games at B1G Tournament for the first time since 2016, and the sixth time in MSU's 10 B1G Tournament appearances under Coach Boss. Overall, it was the eighth time winning at least two games in the Spartans' 17 total B1G Tournament appearances.Â
MSU made history as the first No. 12 seed to win not just one but two games in the B1G Tournament, upsetting No. 5 seed Purdue, 8-4, in the opening game of the tournament, then knocking off No. 8 seed Iowa, 4-3, to reach the tourney quarterfinals, where they drew No. 4 seed USC, falling to the Trojans, 7-0. USC is currently playing in the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Super Regionals.
Spartan baseball said farewell to its 11 seniors, including one student manager, two members of the social media squad and eight players. The Spartan baseball seniors of players Noah Bright, JD Greeley, Nolan Higgins, Carter Monke, Randy Seymour, Andrew Siler, Tommy Szczepanski and Nick Williams, along with student manager Frankie Lollo, social media squad members Sedona Bassler and Becca Gawenda, along with all had their final game as Spartans.Â
Fans can stay tuned to MSUSpartans.com and @MSUBaseball on Twitter for offseason news and updates.
2026 Michigan State Baseball Team Awards
John Kobs Most Valuable Player: Aidan Donovan
Robin Roberts Most Valuable Pitcher: Aidan Donovan
Kirk Gibson Co-Offensive Player of the Year: Parker Picot / Nick Williams
Danny Litwhiler Defensive Player of the Year: Khamaree Thomas
Steve Garvey Most Improved Player: Khamaree Thomas
Jerry Sutton Student-Athlete Award: Randy Seymour
Craig Hendricks Co-Spartan Spirit Award: Noah Bright / Josh Klug
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