Hoosiers Dominate Big Ten Postseason Baseball Honors

To the victor goes the spoils, and so it went for the IU baseball program on Tuesday as the Big Ten Conference announced its postseason awards.

The headliners for Indiana were starting pitcher Andrew Saalfrank and head coach Jeff Mercer.

After going 36-19 and winning the Big Ten regular season title, Mercer was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year.  He becomes the third Indiana head coach to earn the honor.  The Indiana native led the Hoosiers to their seventh Big Ten crown in the program’s history and its first since 2014.

Saalfrank won the Big Ten Pitcher of the Year award.  Slated as IU’s Sunday starter, the left-hander went 69.2 innings and currently ranks second in the Big Ten in wins (8), third in strikeouts (96) and fifth with a 2.58 ERA.  Saalfrank becomes the fourth Indiana pitcher to earn this honor and first since Joey DeNato in 2014.

Seven other Hoosiers won league honors, including Matt Lloyd, who joins Saalfrank with first team All-Big Ten honors.

Via the Big Ten, the complete list of award winners is below.

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Player of the Year: Jordan Brewer, Michigan
Pitcher of the Year: Andrew Saalfrank, Indiana
Freshman of the Year: Maxwell Costes, Maryland
Coach of the Year: Jeff Mercer, Indiana

All-Big Ten First Team
C – Eli Wilson, Minnesota
1B – Maxwell Costes, Maryland
2B – Michael Massey, Illinois
SS – Jack Dunn, Northwestern
3B – Alex Erro, Northwestern
OF – Zac Taylor, Illinois
OF – Jordan Brewer, Michigan
OF – Dominic Canzone, Ohio State
SP – Andy Fisher, Illinois
SP – Andrew Saalfrank, Indiana
SP – Jeff Criswell, Michigan
RP – Garrett Acton, Illinois
DH – Jordan Nwogu, Michigan
At-Large – Matt Lloyd, Indiana

All-Big Ten Second Team
C – Dillon Dingler, Ohio State
1B – Scotty Bradley, Indiana
2B – Royce Ando, Michigan State
SS – Jack Blomgren, Michigan
3B – Cole Barr, Indiana
OF – Randy Bednar, Maryland
OF – Matt Gorski, Indiana
OF – Aaron Palensky, Nebraska
SP – Max Meyer, Minnesota
SP – Dante Biasi, Penn State
SP – Tevin Murray, Rutgers
RP – Grant Leonard, Iowa
DH – Cam Chick, Nebraska
At-Large – Brady Cherry, Ohio State

All-Big Ten Third Team
C – Joe Donovan, Michigan
1B – Jimmy Kerr, Michigan
2B – Shawn Goosenberg, Northwestern
SS – AJ Lee, Maryland
3B – Taylor Wright, Maryland
OF – Jack Yalowitz, Illinois
OF – Elijah Dunham, Indiana
OF – Jesse Franklin, Michigan
SP – Hunter Parsons, Maryland
SP – Karl Kauffmann, Michigan
SP – Seth Lonsway, Ohio State
RP – Bo Hofstra, Purdue
DH – Michael Pineiro, Maryland
At-Large – Cole McKenzie, Purdue

All-Big Ten Freshman Team
C – Michael Trautwein, Northwestern
1B – Maxwell Costes, Maryland
2B – Shawn Goosenberg, Northwestern
SS – Zach Dezenzo, Ohio State
3B – Justin Williams, Penn State
OF – Cam McDonald, Illinois
OF – Grant Richardson, Indiana
OF – Zaid Walker, Michigan State
SP – Michael Doherty, Northwestern
SP – Garrett Burhenn, Ohio State
SP – Seth Lonsway, Ohio State
RP – Willie Weiss, Michigan
DH – Cam Chick, Nebraska
At-Large – Michael Pineiro, Maryland

Sportsmanship Award Honorees
David Craan, Illinois
Drew Ashley, Indiana
Mitchell Boe, Iowa
Taylor Wright, Maryland
Jimmy Kerr, Michigan
Marty Bechina, Michigan State
Jeff Fasching, Minnesota
Joe Acker, Nebraska
Danny Katz, Northwestern
Ridge Winand, Ohio State
Blake Hodgens, Penn State
Bryce Bonner, Purdue
Tyler McNamara, Rutgers

— Via the Big Ten Conference

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