May 25, 2010

 

COLUMBUS, Ohio – On the evening before the start of the 2010 Big Ten Baseball Tournament, the Big Ten Conference announced the season’s All-Big Ten teams and individual honors, recognizing Indiana’s Alex Dickerson as the Player of the Year, Ohio State’s Alex Wimmers as Pitcher of the Year, Michigan State’s Ryan Jones as Freshman of the Year and Minnesota’s John Anderson as Coach of the Year.

The Big Ten’s Freshman of the Year a season ago, Dickerson becomes the third Hoosier to be named Big Ten Player of the Year and the first since 2002. The sophomore is just the sixth player to earn Freshman and Player of the Year honors in the same career and the first to do it in successive seasons. The Big Ten’s triple-crown winner in overall games, Dickerson led the conference in average (.415), home runs (23) and RBI (73), also pacing the Big Ten in slugging (.808) throughout the season. The outfielder is a semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy, which honors the top player in collegiate baseball.

The 2009 Big Ten Co-Pitcher of the Year, Wimmers becomes the first pitcher in Big Ten history to earn the honor in back-to-back seasons. The junior led the Big Ten with a 1.60 ERA, .218 opponents’ batting average and tied for the lead in wins. The right-hander won nine of his 10 starts without recording a loss, and struck out 86 batters in 73 innings over the course of the season. Wimmers is among the semifinalists for the Dick Howser Trophy and on the watch list for the USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award.

Jones is the second Spartan in history and first since 2005 to be named Freshman of the Year. The second baseman finished sixth in the Big Ten with a .380 average in all games. He also posted a .500 slugging percentage and a .429 on-base percentage with 37 RBI, 12 doubles, four triples and one home run, earning a unanimous selection to the All-Freshman team and a nod on the All-Big Ten second team.

Selected by his peers as Big Ten Coach of the Year, John Anderson led Minnesota to its 22nd overall Big Ten title and first since 2004. The honor is the fifth of Anderson’s career, as he also received top accolades in 2000 and in three straight years from 20002 to 2004. Under Anderson’s guidance, the Golden Gophers ranked among the Big Ten’s top three batting average (.327), slugging (.480) and on-base percentage (.399) and led in ERA (4.25) and opponents’ hitting (.278) in Big Ten play.

Dickerson, Wimmers and Purdue starter Matt Bischoff were unanimous selections to the All-Big Ten first team, joined on the first team by Indiana’s Josh Lyon, Michigan’s Ryan LaMarre, Michigan State’s Jonathan Roof, Minnesota’s Nick O’Shea, Northwestern’s Eric Jokisch, Chris Lashmet, Zach Morton and Paul Snieder, Ohio State’s Zach Hurley and Penn State’s Ben Heath.

The conference office also announced honorees from each of the 10 baseball squads for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award. The student-athletes chosen are individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. In addition, the student-athletes must be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting. Honorees for baseball are listed below.

The complete All-Big Ten teams, All-Freshman team and individual award winners can be found below.

ALL-BIG TEN BASEBALL TEAMS

FIRST TEAM
1B – Nick O’Shea, MINN
2B – Zach Morton, NU
SS – Jonathan Roof, MSU
3B – Chris Lashmet, NU
OF – Alex Dickerson, IND#
OF – Ryan LaMarre, MICH
OF – Zach Hurley, OSU
C – Ben Heath, PSU
DH – Josh Lyon, IND
SP – Eric Jokisch, NU
SP – Alex Wimmers, OSU#
SP – Matt Bischoff, PUR#
RP – Paul Snieder, NU

SECOND TEAM
1B – Jerrud Sabourin, IND
2B – Ryan Jones, MSU
SS – Trevor Stevens, NU
3B – Torsten Boss, MSU
OF – Kurtis Muller, IOWA
OF – Eli Boike, MSU
OF – Michael Kvasnicka, MINN
C – Chris Berset, MICH
DH – Ryan Dew, OSU
SP – Jarred Hippen, IOWA
SP – Phil Isaksson, MINN
SP – Seth Rosin, MINN
RP – Tyler Burgoon, MICH

THIRD TEAM
1B – Jeff Holm, MSU
2B – Tyler Rogers, IND
SS – Josh Parr, ILL
3B – Zach McCool, IOWA
OF – Michael Earley, IND
OF – Michael Stephens, OSU
OF – Steve Snyder, PSU
C – Kyle Knudson, MINN
DH – Chris Roberts, MSU
SP – Alan Oaks, MICH
SP – Kurt Wunderlich, MSU
SP – TJ Oakes, MINN
RP – Scott Matyas, MINN

ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM*
1B – Jack Havey, NU
2B – Ryan Jones, MSU#
SS – Derek Dennis, MICH
3B – Torsten Boss, MSU#
OF – Patrick Biondi, MICH
OF – Arby Fields, NU
OF – Elliot Searer, PSU
OF – Steve Snyder, PSU#
C – Kevin Plawecki, PUR#
DH – Mike Corbeil, IOWA
SP – Kevin Johnson, ILL#
SP – Bobby Brosnahan, MICH#
SP – TJ Oakes, MINN#
RP – Brad Schreiber, PUR

BIG TEN INDIVIDUAL HONORS

PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Alex Dickerson, IND#

PITCHER OF THE YEAR
Alex Wimmers, OSU

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Ryan Jones, MSU

COACH OF THE YEAR
John Anderson, MINN

SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD HONOREES
Craig Lutes, ILL
Sterling Mack, IND
Michael Jacobs, IOWA
Chris Berset, MICH
Brandon Eckerle, MSU
Kyle Knudson, MINN
Chad Noble, NU
Zach Hurley, OSU
Louie Picconi, PSU
Matt Bischoff, PUR

# - Unanimous Selection
* Additional Honorees Due to Tie

Big Ten Baseball

Printer-friendly format	Email this article