By MATT PIKE
A Lafayette alum and current St. Joseph Mustangs baseball player, Brayden Luikart earned a Gold Glove for his 2026 season with Missouri Southern.
Luikart was featured on the Gold Glove Team for his play in the outfield. In the field, he notched 139 putouts and three assists on 142 chances with zero errors for a perfect fielding percentage while starting all 53 games in center field, where he also primarly plays for the Mustangs. Luikart, who was also a 2026 ABCA/Rawlings NCAA DII All-Region Second Team selection, led the Lions in 2026 offensively with a .377 batting average with 58 runs, 78 hits, 23 doubles, three triples, 11 home runs, 46 RBI's, 140 total bases, and 15 stolen bases.
He ranked seventh in the MIAA for batting average, fourth for slugging percentage, eighth for on-base percentage, fourth for OPS, fifth for hits, first for doubles and eighth for walks this season. Acting as the Lions' leadoff hitter, Luikart paced Southern with 24 multi-hit games as well as 11 multi-RBI games. He went on a 44-game reached base streak and an eight-game hitting streak in 2026.
Luikart hauled in several other awards during the 2026 season also being named to the 2026 All-MIAA First Team, 2026 MIAA Gold Glove Team, 2026 D2CCA Baseball All-Central Region Second Team, and the 2026 College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team.
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