Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Hall of Fame: Brentz enters hall as home run king
11/4/2020 10:39:00 AM | Baseball, General
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — You can't deny the impact Bryce Brentz has had on the Middle Tennessee baseball team since he first took the diamond as a freshman in 2008.
The program's only position player to ever be named first-team All-American by Baseball America and NCBWA set record after record in his three seasons and became one of the most highly touted position players to ever don the Blue Raiders uniform. He's since had a successful professional career while being one of the best ambassadors for MT's baseball program.
Now, Brentz will be forever enshrined in the Blue Raiders Sports Hall of Fame. He entered with the 2020 class, which also includes former Middle Tennessee baseball player Clay Snellgrove.
"I'm very blessed and very grateful for the support and the love from the people who've been behind me. It's been huge," Brentz said.
When Brentz found out in July he was included in this year's class, he was humbled and emotional. His thoughts immediately went to his former coach, Steve Peterson, who passed away in March.
"It bit me hard. When we found out that day, as soon as I brought up Coach Pete, it hit," Brentz said. "We always talked about fishing … but we never did it, and that's something that I regret."
Peterson was the main reason Brentz became a Blue Raider in the first place.
He was a highly recruited dual position player from South Doyle High School in Knoxville, earning a Preseason All-American nod as a senior in 2007 by Baseball Factory and Team One. When he started narrowing down his college choices, one thing kept sticking out to him.
"Coming out of high school, that's the No. 1 thing that I heard was go to MTSU, Coach Pete's there and they have a great staff there," Brentz said. "Every scout, every person that I knew, didn't have anything to say about MTSU in a negative way."
Brentz's talent was evident from the moment he stepped onto Reese Smith Jr. Field.
He appeared in 55 games as a freshman, starting 51, and ended the season batting .329 with 14 doubles, 18 home runs, 68 RBIs and 49 runs scored. He was named Collegiate Baseball's Louisville Slugger Freshman All-America, American Baseball Coaches Association Third Team All-America and National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Freshman All-America and also took Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year and was Second Team All-Conference.
During that season, Brentz and Peterson struck a fierce bond, and renovations at Reese Smith Jr. Field gave the team a one-of-a-kind year that helped groom them for more success to come.
"My freshman year when they were building the stadium … I think we were one of the few teams who got to see a glimpse of how [Peterson] really felt, because there weren't any fans in the stands and we were kind of on our own," Brentz said. "He was more fired up and more competitive and would get onto us in a different manner."
It was Brentz's sophomore year when he and the Blue Raiders really put things together.
They finished the season 44-18 and won both the Sun Belt tournament and regular-season titles en route to a berth in a NCAA Regional. Brentz was named the Sun Belt Player of the Year and a consensus All-American, leading the NCAA in batting average, home runs, slugging percentage and total bases and breaking single-season program records for batting average (.465), home runs (28), hits (107), runs (79), total bases (214) and slugging percentage (.930).
Brentz finished his Middle Tennessee career the following season, being named first-team all-conference again before being drafted in the first round, 36th overall, of the MLB Draft by the Boston Red Sox. He still ranks in the top three of seven career hitting categories for MT, including first in career home runs, slugging percentage and multi-home run games and second in batting average, runs scored and total bases. He's third in RBIs.
He appeared in 34 total games for the Red Sox at the Major League level while also carving out a nice career in the minor leagues. He also played the 2018 in the New York Mets organization.
While baseball has taken Brentz out of Middle Tennessee at times, he still calls Murfreesboro home with his wife, former Lady Raiders basketball star Anne Marie Lanning.
"I might be the only person who's played in the big leagues in recent memory here, and people know my wife more. She's the one they stop and talk to in Kroger," he said.
Now when Brentz is seen with Anne Marie in Kroger, locals who recognize him can call him a hall of famer.
The program's only position player to ever be named first-team All-American by Baseball America and NCBWA set record after record in his three seasons and became one of the most highly touted position players to ever don the Blue Raiders uniform. He's since had a successful professional career while being one of the best ambassadors for MT's baseball program.
Now, Brentz will be forever enshrined in the Blue Raiders Sports Hall of Fame. He entered with the 2020 class, which also includes former Middle Tennessee baseball player Clay Snellgrove.
"I'm very blessed and very grateful for the support and the love from the people who've been behind me. It's been huge," Brentz said.
When Brentz found out in July he was included in this year's class, he was humbled and emotional. His thoughts immediately went to his former coach, Steve Peterson, who passed away in March.
"It bit me hard. When we found out that day, as soon as I brought up Coach Pete, it hit," Brentz said. "We always talked about fishing … but we never did it, and that's something that I regret."
Peterson was the main reason Brentz became a Blue Raider in the first place.
He was a highly recruited dual position player from South Doyle High School in Knoxville, earning a Preseason All-American nod as a senior in 2007 by Baseball Factory and Team One. When he started narrowing down his college choices, one thing kept sticking out to him.
"Coming out of high school, that's the No. 1 thing that I heard was go to MTSU, Coach Pete's there and they have a great staff there," Brentz said. "Every scout, every person that I knew, didn't have anything to say about MTSU in a negative way."
Brentz's talent was evident from the moment he stepped onto Reese Smith Jr. Field.
He appeared in 55 games as a freshman, starting 51, and ended the season batting .329 with 14 doubles, 18 home runs, 68 RBIs and 49 runs scored. He was named Collegiate Baseball's Louisville Slugger Freshman All-America, American Baseball Coaches Association Third Team All-America and National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Freshman All-America and also took Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year and was Second Team All-Conference.
During that season, Brentz and Peterson struck a fierce bond, and renovations at Reese Smith Jr. Field gave the team a one-of-a-kind year that helped groom them for more success to come.
"My freshman year when they were building the stadium … I think we were one of the few teams who got to see a glimpse of how [Peterson] really felt, because there weren't any fans in the stands and we were kind of on our own," Brentz said. "He was more fired up and more competitive and would get onto us in a different manner."
It was Brentz's sophomore year when he and the Blue Raiders really put things together.
They finished the season 44-18 and won both the Sun Belt tournament and regular-season titles en route to a berth in a NCAA Regional. Brentz was named the Sun Belt Player of the Year and a consensus All-American, leading the NCAA in batting average, home runs, slugging percentage and total bases and breaking single-season program records for batting average (.465), home runs (28), hits (107), runs (79), total bases (214) and slugging percentage (.930).
Brentz finished his Middle Tennessee career the following season, being named first-team all-conference again before being drafted in the first round, 36th overall, of the MLB Draft by the Boston Red Sox. He still ranks in the top three of seven career hitting categories for MT, including first in career home runs, slugging percentage and multi-home run games and second in batting average, runs scored and total bases. He's third in RBIs.
He appeared in 34 total games for the Red Sox at the Major League level while also carving out a nice career in the minor leagues. He also played the 2018 in the New York Mets organization.
While baseball has taken Brentz out of Middle Tennessee at times, he still calls Murfreesboro home with his wife, former Lady Raiders basketball star Anne Marie Lanning.
"I might be the only person who's played in the big leagues in recent memory here, and people know my wife more. She's the one they stop and talk to in Kroger," he said.
Now when Brentz is seen with Anne Marie in Kroger, locals who recognize him can call him a hall of famer.
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