2010: Derbak played in 45 games and started 42 times… started 19 of the final 20 games of the season at first base… missed eight games, including the first two OVC series, in late March and early April due to an ankle injury… batted second through fifth in the lineup all season… hit safely in the final 13 games of the year against OVC opponents… also hit safely in the final six games of the year, going 10-for-20 with six free passes and no strikeouts during that stretch… closed his four-year career as a starter with a .319 batting average… batted .364 in conference play… left-handed hitter batted .319 versus lefties… with a runner on third and less than outs, drove in that run in 7-of-11 situations… batted .404 with a .475 on-base percentage in May… batted .375 at Coaches Stadium… was 4-for-10 with four walks and four runs scored at the OVC Tournament… connected for a grand slam and matched his career high with five RBIs to key the first win of the season in the middle game of the UAB series… hit safely in all three games of the South Florida, UT Martin, Jacksonville State and Southeast Missouri series… went 3-for-3 with an RBI double in the home opener against Chicago State… delivered a pair of two-run hits in the 10-run fifth inning against Morehead State… had four consecutive multi-hit games from May 2-9… finished the Jacksonville State series 7-for-12… had two hits in all three games of the Southeast Missouri series, finishing the final three-game set at Coaches Stadium 6-for-10 with three doubles… reached base safely five times in the comeback win against SEMO at the OVC Tournament, drawing a leadoff walk to ignite EIU’s five-run 10th inning… EIU All-Time Rankings: third in saves, fifth in at-bats,seventh in hits, and ninth in doubles, RBIs and games played.
2009: First Team All-OVC… Honorable Mention All-Ping!Baseball… OVC Commissioner's Honor Roll... Derbak played in all 50 games, the only Panther to do so, starting 46 times as a position play… also pitched in a team-high 25 games… started 43 games at designated hitter and three times in the outfield… played a few innings at second base late in games as well… became the 16th player in program history to bat .400 or better for the season… led the team in hits… ranked as the toughest player to strikeout in the OVC, whiffing only 10 times in 187 at-bats (203 plate appearances) for an average of one K every 18.7 at-bat… led the team in saves and ranked third with six victories (all in relief)… will enter his senior season with 14 career saves and a chance to break the EIU all-time record (18)… hit three of his five homers in OVC play… went 3-0 with a .174 batting average against during conference weekends… was 3-for-6 with the bases loaded… batted .444 with runners in scoring position and registered 19 of his 41 RBIs with two outs… led the team with 31 two-out hits… hit safely in each of the first 17 games of the season in which he batted, a career-long streak and the best by a Panther in 2009… posted 11 multi-hit games during his 17-game streak… also ended the season riding a 10-game hitting streak… reached base safely in 44 of the 47 games in which he batted… led the team with 24 multi-hit efforts, including a pair of five-hit games… struck out only twice in 73 plate appearances at home… batted .476 with a team-best 11 RBIs in neutral-site games… batted .488 with 20 RBIs in the month of March… went 17-for-35 with nine RBIs on the spring break trip… was the only regular that did not strikeout (in 36 plate appearances) during the 10-game homestand… went 3-for-8 with an RBI at the OVC Tournament… allowed only five of 16 inherited baserunners to score, for a team-best 31 percent clip… compiled a 3.1 strikeout-to-walk ratio on the mound, second best on the team… went 3-1 with two saves and 2.16 ERA in true road games… had a victory, four saves, 2.08 ERA and 16 strikeouts in nine appearances in March… homered and doubled three times in his five-hit game against Milwaukee… had multiple hits in all three games of the South Florida Tournament, finishing the weekend 8-for-14 with four RBIs… registered two hits in all three games of the Morehead State series… doubled twice, homered and recorded four RBIs in game one of the Tennessee Tech doubleheader… finished the UT Martin series 6-for-13 with a homer, eight RBIs and four runs scored… also went deep against Jacksonville State and Butler… closed out the season-opener for his first save and earned his first win the following weekend against Butler… struck out four in a five-out save against Milwaukee… registered a win and two saves in three consecutive relief appearances at the end of March… pitched a season-high 3 1/3 innings of scoreless relief for a save in the win at Saint Louis… worked three innings of scoreless relief to earn the victory in the win at Illinois… was also the winning pitcher in the series-opening victory against Jacksonville State… struck out a career-high five over 2 2/3 innings to earn a save in the regular-season finale against Eastern Kentucky… Top 100 National Rankings: 14th in toughest to strikeout, 29th in batting average and 76th in saves… Top 10 OVC Rankings: third in appearances and saves, fourth in batting average, seventh in hits and 10th in wins… EIU Single-Season Rankings: fifth in hits and saves, sixth in batting average.
2008: CollegeBaseballHub.com Heartland Region Hitter of the Week (April 8)…Derbak played in 54 games and started 51 times, primarily at catcher… pitched in 12 games, starting twice… collected 27 of his 39 RBIs with two outs… collected 23 of his 39 RBIs in OVC play while walking more than he struck out… solid situational statistics: .327 with runners on, 5-for-8 with the bases loaded and .329 with runners in scoring position… on the mound, did not surrender a home run, limited right-handed hitters to a .250 batting average and averaged over eight strikeouts per nine innings… one of two Panthers to record a two-, three-, four- and five-RBI effort… batted .333 (15-for-45) at home, second best on the team… led the way with 12 RBIs in March while striking out just twice in 61 at-bats… batted .321 (18-for-56) in April… recorded 14 RBIs on only 12 hits in May… enjoyed a productive spring break trip, going 11-for-30 (.367) with eight RBIs… collected all four his RBIs at the OVC Tournament with two outs, delivering key two-run hits in the wins against Samford and Jacksonville State… also closed out the Jax State win on the mound, striking out the only batter he faced… homered twice and registered a career-high five RBIs (all with two outs) in the must-win, regular-season finale at Eastern Kentucky… his first career multi-homer game was also the only such effort by a Panther in 2008… hit safely in eight straight games in early April, igniting the streak with a huge 6-for-9, nine-RBI series against UT Martin… recorded multiple RBIs and scored a run in all three games of the UTM sweep, hitting his first career homer en route to a four-RBI performance in the series finale… also hit safely in all three game of the subsequent series at Murray State… ignited the walk-off rally in the opener of the Morehead State series with a great at-bat and leadoff double… reached base safely in all four of his plate appearances, collected three RBIs and scored twice in the final game of the Morehead sweep… reached base safely twice and scored twice during EIU’s 10-run sixth inning in the win against Evansville… worked four innings of one-hit relief, striking out four, to earn the win at Illinois State… closed out the first of the two wins against Bucknell in Florida for a save… made his first collegiate start as a pitcher in the finale of the Samford series… also started the midweek game at Indiana State… escaped a bases-loaded jam in the ninth inning against Oral Roberts at the NCAA Regional.
2007: Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American... Second Team All-OVC... OVC All-Freshman Team... Pingbaseball.com Honorable Mention Freshman All-American... He played in 43 games, starting 43 times as position player and also pitching in a team-high 21 contests… started games at first base (19), second base (15) and designated hitter (9)… was the only freshman in the league and first Panther since 2004 to earn All-Conference honors... led the team with five saves… batted .320 while collecting eight of his 10 doubles and 12 of his 24 RBIs in OVC play… those eight two-baggers ranked him third among the league leaders in conference play… only committed two errors in 118 defensive chances in OVC series… solid situational hitting statistics: .338 with runners on, 4-for-10 with the bases loaded, .358 with RISP and .294 with two outs… seven of his 12 RBIs in OVC play came with two outs… held opposing hitters to a .244 average with two outs… posted an eight-game hitting streak early in the season and later hit safely in nine straight OVC games… enjoyed a solid March at the plate and on the mound, batting .297 with 10 RBIs as a hitter and posting four saves, a 2.61 ERA and .219 average against over eight appearances… batted .367 and struck out just three times in 57 plate appearances in April… also whiffed just once in 42 at-bats at home… collected nine doubles, 14 RBIs and 15 runs scored in true road games… also posted all three of his victories and three saves in road environments… knocked in the game-tying run in the eighth inning of his collegiate debut with a squeeze bunt… hit .424 (14-for-33) with seven RBIs in the first nine games of the season… enjoyed a big series at Belmont, going 5-for-12 with three RBIs at the plate and earning his first career save in the middle game of the set… came through in the clutch at Indiana State, collecting a season-high three RBIs at the plate and earning the save on the mound after closing out the contest with the potential game-tying run on third base… three days later in the doubleheader sweep at UT Martin, he was the winning pitcher in game one, delivered a clutch two-out, two-run single and earned the save in game two… posted three-hit efforts in road OVC games at UT Martin and Southeast Missouri… collected a hit in all three games of the Belmont, Samford and Southeast Missouri series… had multiple hits in all three games against SEMO in Cape… led off the three-run, ninth-inning rally at Morehead State with a double… OVC Top 10 Rankings: third in saves.
HIGH SCHOOL: He was a four-year letter-winner for coaches John Groennert and Dave Neighbors… also lettered three times in football… 2006 Belleville News-Democrat Player of the Year… All-State shortstop/pitcher as a senior… St. Louis Post-Dispatch First Team Utility Player in 2006… two-time All-Cahokia Conference and Metro East All-Star selection as an upperclassman… Trenton-Wesclin was runner-up of the Class A IHSA State Baseball Tournament in 2006... in football set school records for passing years (1,800+) and touchdowns (24) his senior year.
PERSONAL: No. 1 sports highlight was winning the OVC Tournament and qualifying for NCAA Lincoln Regional… his parents have been a major influence on his sports career because “my mom has always been there for me and been supportive, and my dad taught me how to play sports”… most admires his high school assistant football coach Joe Sopiars because “he was the best communicator with the athletes I have ever played for”… his father (at Missouri) and uncle Johnny (at Southern Illinois) both played collegiate baseball… son of Richard and Laurie Derbak… MAJOR: Kinesiology and Sports Studies.
