2009: OVC Player of the Year… Louisville Slugger Third Team All-American… Brooks Wallace Award semifinalist… First Team All-OVC… three-time OVC Player of the Week (March 23, March 30 and April 13)… College Baseball Foundation National All-Star Lineup (April 1)… Kreke played in 46 games, starting 45 times at shortstop… also pitched in 17 games in his first season as a member of the bullpen… became the third Panther to win OVC Player of the Year honors, and first since 2002… one of 15 semifinalists for Brooks Wallace Award (national shortstop of the year)… became the first OVC position player to win conference Player of the Week three times in one season… feasted on OVC pitching, leading the league with a .507 batting average (38-for-75) and 40 RBIs in conference play… hit safely in 16 of the 18 OVC games… led the team in doubles, home runs and RBIs… hit all 13 of his homers in EIU wins… tied the EIU single-game record with eight RBIs in the March 29 win against Tennessee Tech… was part of 25 of the 38 double plays EIU turned… hit nine of his 13 homers in OVC play, including a pair of grand slams… led the team with a .536 batting average with runners in scoring position, bolstered by an 18-for-25 (.720) showing in conference play… batted a team-best .469 against left-handed pitching… was 8-for-13 with the bases loaded… with a runner on third base and less than two outs, recorded an RBI in 14 of his 15 opportunities… posted 22 of his 59 RBIs with two outs… registered hitting streak of 11 and 14 consecutive games, the latter being a career long… had five-plus RBIs in a game four times… as a pitcher, opposing batters were only 1-for-25 against him with two outs… retired 20 consecutive batters over the span of five relief appearances in April… led the team with a 4.2 strikeout-to-walk ratio… was the winning pitcher in relief against Indiana and recorded saves versus Oklahoma and Southeast Missouri… batted .446 with a team-best 27 RBIs in March… had 11 RBIs in EIU’s eight games in May… went 16-for-31 (.516) with 11 runs scored and 15 RBIs on the eight-game spring break trip… batted .574 (31-for-54) during the 13-game winning streak, leading the team in hits, homers (7), RBIs (28) and runs scored (22)… reached base safely four times in his nine plate appearances as the OVC Tournament… homered in all three games of the Morehead State series, finishing the OVC-opening set 10-for-15 with 12 RBIs… delivered a two-out, two-run single with two outs in the seventh inning of game two of the Morehead doubleheader, lifting EIU to victory… delivered a two-out walk-off single with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning in the April 18 victory against Jacksonville State… homered twice in wins against Tennessee Tech, UT Martin and Saint Louis… had multiple hits in six straight games from March 21-29… Top 100 National Rankings: 50th in slugging percentage, 56th in RBIs per game and 88th in batting average… Top 10 OVC Rankings: fourth in slugging percentage, fifth in home runs, sixth in RBIs and total bases, eighth in doubles, and 10th in batting average… EIU Single-Season Rankings: fourth in RBIs… EIU All-Time Rankings: fifth in doubles, seventh in RBIs, and eighth in triples.
2008: Kreke played in 55 games and started 54 times, primarily at shortstop… also started 20 times at third base in April… led the team in triples, RBIs and multi-RBI games… his five three-baggers were the most by a Panther since 1992… recorded 23 two-out RBIs thanks to a team-best 27 hits with two down in an inning… reached base safely to begin an inning 43 percent of the time (20-of-47)… batted .300 (24-for-80) with runners in scoring position… was stellar defensively in the postseason, handling all 30 of his chances cleanly while also being a part of six of the eight double plays EIU turned… was also part of two of the EIU record five double plays the Panthers turned in the finale of the UT Martin series… hit all three of his home runs and led the team with 14 RBIs in true road games… batted .339 with a squad-best 18 RBIs in neutral-site action… busted out of a 1-for-27 slump in late March with a 10-for-23 showing during the season-long, six-game homestand… went on to drive in a team-high 20 runs in April… batted .323 (21-for-65) with 12 extra-base hits in May… batted .370 (10-for-27) with a team-leading nine RBIs while striking out just once on the spring break trip… went 5-for-16 with four RBIs at the OVC Tournament… hit safely in 10 of the final 11 games of the season, highlighted by a career-long, eight-game hitting streak… also hit safely in the first five games of the season and 11 of the first 13 games in which he played… hit three-run homers in the series finales at Southeastern Louisiana and Murray State… registered a season-high four RBIs in the middle game of the series vs. UT Martin… collected three extra-base hits in key OVC wins against Southeast Missouri (three doubles) and at Eastern Kentucky (two doubles and a triple)… doubled and tripled during the nine-run fifth inning in the series finale at EKU… hit safely in all three games of the UT Martin and EKU series… posted his second career four-hit game in the loss at Indiana State… had three hits in both wins against Jacksonville State, highlighted by a two-run triple during EIU’s five-run second inning at the OVC Tournament… reached safely twice and scored twice during the 10-run sixth inning in the win against Evansville… knocked in two of EIU’s four runs in the opening-round win against Tennessee Tech at the OVC Tournament… stole a key base and scored a pair of runs in the tourney win against Samford… turned a key 1-6-3 double play in the eighth inning of the OVC Tournament championship game against Southeast Missouri… led off the fourth inning of the Nebraska game at the NCAA Regional with a solo home run… Top 10 OVC Rankings: fifth in triples and seventh in doubles… Top 100 National Rankings: 56th in triples… EIU Single-Season Rankings: sixth in triples.
2007: He played in 47 games and started 37 times, primarily at second base… shared the team lead in doubles… was a part of 19 of EIU’s 45 double plays turned… recorded half of his doubles and runs scored and 13 of his 22 RBIs in OVC play… went 4-for-9 with the bases loaded… reached base 46 percent of the time when leading off an inning… collected nine two-out RBIs thanks to 12 hits with two down… after going 6-for-9 on the spring break trip, batted .464 in March… collected a team-high 16 RBIs in April… registered six doubles in the 12 games in May… walked more than he struck out in home games…batted .369 with 10 doubles in true road games… batted .361 while collecting 13 RBIs and scoring 16 times in EIU victories… batted .394 in post-spring break midweek action… hit his first career home run in game two of the Murray State doubleheader… registered three hits in both wins over Saint Louis… recorded three RBIs in the win over Murray… collected a career-high five RBIs with a three-hit effort in the win over Southeast Missouri… that game ignited a six-game hitting streak, his second run of the year of that length… closed the year with his first career four-hit effort at Morehead State… ignited the four-run, ninth-inning rally with a leadoff double in the win at nationally-ranked College of Charleston… did not commit an error in his first 12 starts of the season… one of just two Panthers to hit safely in all three games of the series at league champion Austin Peay... Top 10 OVC Rankings: ninth in doubles.
2006: He played in 23 games and started 12 times, primarily at third base… started seven consecutive games in March, including the first two OVC contests… drove in three runs with two hits in EIU’s eight-run, last-at-bat rally at Murray State… broke a 9-9 tie with a two-run single with his second hit of the inning… came back the next day and executed a pinch-hit squeeze bunt… had three hits, including two doubles, and scored twice in the spring break trip victory over Bradley… batted .300 with four runs scored during the spring break trip… first hit as a Panther was a double at Kansas State… collected a pinch-hit single in his lone OVC Tournament at-bat.
HIGH SCHOOL: He played for coach Dennis Trame... also lettered in basketball, football and golf... earned Belleville News-Democrat First Team All-Area honors in both baseball and football... National Honor Society... also played for the Aviston American Legion team.
PERSONAL: No. 1 sports highlight was hitting a home run against Nebraska at the NCAA Regional... his father has been a major influence on his sports career because "he was a minor league pitcher for seven years and I have always pushed myself to make it to the minors as well"... most admires Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. because "he played all those games in a row no matter if he was sick or hurt"... his dad pitched in the Philadelphia Phillies and Pittsburgh Pirates minor league systems, his brother Nathan played football at EIU, and his aunt Brenda Winkeler is the head volleyball coach at Southern Illinois after being the head coach at EIU from 2000-04... son of Don and Jean Kreke... MAJOR: Accounting.
