2014 NCBWA Preseason All-Americans

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FROM NCBWA PRESS RELEASE

FORT WORTH, Texas – With solid representation from defending baseball champion, UCLA, and 2013 runner-up, Mississippi State, the 14th annual National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association preseason All-America team premiers the top student-athletes from NCAA Division I, which opens the season in less than two months – on Feb. 14, 2014.

If the 155th season of intercollegiate baseball is anything like the previous campaign, the 2014 All-America units should shine for weeks leading up and into the NCAA DI World Series in Omaha, Neb., on June 14-24/25 and with strong-armed pitching in every corner. The Bruins and Bulldogs, in fact, have five players on all the first two squads, while 2013 NCAA World Series participants Indiana, Louisville, LSU, North Carolina, NC State, and Oregon State are represented by a total of 12 standouts on the three teams. In all, there are players from 17 conferences and 35 schools nationwide.

Returning first-team standouts from the post-2013 NCBWA All-America team are power-hitting Indiana catcher Kyle Schwarber (18 home runs for second-most among the honorees) and four pitchers (two starters, two relievers), who all held opposing hitters under .200 batting averages.

UCLA righty, 2013 CWS Most Outstanding Player and Team USA standout David Berg leads this pack with an NCAA-record 24 saves, 7-0 record and an 0.88 ERA. The other three returning first unit pitchers – Vanderbilt’s Tyler Beede, Mississippi State’s Jonathan Holder and LSU’s Aaron Nola – were a combined 28-2 on the hill with 315 strikeouts and 21 saves by Holder.

Joining them on the elite first crew are starters Thomas Eshelman and Justin Garza of Cal State Fullerton, UC Irvine’s Andrew Morales, and NC State’s Carlos Rodon (A-A-leading 170 strikeouts in 118-plus innings pitched. 2013 postseason second team All-America relief man Nick Burdi of Louisville brings back 16 saves and an 0.78 ERA to compliment the six first-team rotation pitchers, who own a composite 69-7 record.

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The first squad also has representation from three UC Irvine Anteaters – 1B Connor Spencer, 3B Taylor Sparks and Morales. They all come from the same California high school programs, which produced 2013 consensus All-America and Dick Howser Trophy winner, Kris Bryant of the University of San Diego.

The first team chosen by consultation with individual schools’ media relations offices and the NCBWA All-America committee features returning post-2013 second team All-America designated hitter Nick Backlund of Mercer and 2013 SEC Freshman of the Year and Brooks Wallace Award winning SS Alex Bregman of LSU. Utility player Drew Reynolds of East Carolina adds a .322 batting average and 14 saves in 28 relief appearances.

The pitching-rich second squad boasts another sterling group of moundmen such as Big 12 Conference Pitcher of the Year Harrison Musgrave of West Virginia, Pac-12 Conference Freshman Pitcher of the Year and 14-game winner Andrew Moore of Oregon State, 12-1 starter Trent Thornton of UNC, and Mississippi State’s Ross Mitchell, who led relief pitchers on all college levels with 13 wins as a sophomore.

These youngsters also are the core of nominees for the initial ballot for the 28th annual Dick Howser Trophy, presented by the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Area Chamber of Commerce and voted upon by the NCBWA membership. The Howser Trophy will be awarded in Omaha, Neb., June 13, 2014, prior to the opening of the 67th annual NCAA World Series.

2014 NCBWA Division I Preseason All-America Team

FIRST TEAM (Statistics Are From 2013 Season)
Pos. Name, School, Class Avg. G AB R H 2B-3B-HR RBIs BB SO SB/SBA
C Kyle Schwarber, Indiana, Jr. .376 58 221 63 83 10-1-18 54 42 30 4/7
1B Connor Spencer, UC Irvine, Sr. .373 55 212 42 79 19-3-0 35 21 21 3/5
2B Ross Kivett, Kansas State, Sr. .360 64 261 57 94 15-4-3 39 29 27 26/36
3B Taylor Sparks, UC Irvine, Jr. .360 55 222 38 80 11-4-10 50 6 40 7/10
SS Alex Bregman, LSU, So. .369 67 282 59 104 18-7-6 52 24 25 16/17
OF Mike Papi, Virginia, Jr. .381 55 176 57 67 15-3-7 57 45 25 6/8
OF Casey Roche, Pittsburgh, Sr. .339 58 233 53 79 12-2-9 65 27 41 10/13
OF DJ Stewart, Florida State, So. .364 60 225 50 82 25-2-5 59 38 40 8/12
DH Nick Backlund, Mercer, Sr. .326 61 242 45 79 22-0-13 68 35 50 0/0
UT Drew Reynolds, East Carolina, Sr. .322 54 211 30 68 13-0-0 22 11 22 5/6
3-0, 2.92 ERA, 28 App, 0 GS, 0 CG, 14 SV, 40.0IP, 35H, 19R, 13ER, 19BB, 36K

Pos. Name School W-L ERA APP GS CG SHO SV IP H R ER BB SO B/Avg.

SP Tyler Beede, Vanderbilt, Jr. 14-1 2.32 17 17 0 0/1 0 101 64 32 26 63 103 .187

SP Thomas Eshelman, Cal St.-Fullerton, So. 12-3 1.48 17 16 2 0 0 115.2 86 26 19 3 83 .204

^SP Justin Garza, Cal St.-Fullerton, So. 12-0 2.03 17 17 0 0 0 115 84 27 26 17 95 .205

^SP Aaron Nola, LSU, Jr. 12-1 1.57 17 17 5 3/2 0 126 83 30 22 18 122 .188

SP Andrew Morales, UC Irvine, Sr. 10-0 1.89 17 13 0 0/4 0 95.1 78 20 20 21 85 .227

SP Carlos Rodon, NC State, Jr. 9-2 3.19 17 17 2 1/1 0 118.1 85 47 42 42 170 .201

^RP David Berg, UCLA, So. 7-0 0.88 46 0 0 0/6 21 71.1 49 7 7 8 73 .194

RP Nick Burdi, Louisville, Jr. 3-3 0.78 28 0 0 0/1 16 34.2 25 4 3 13 61 .197

RP Jonathan Holder, Mississippi State, Jr. 2-0 1.65 34 0 0 0/3 21 54.2 33 15 10 17 90 .153

SECOND TEAM
Pos. Name, School, Class Avg. G AB R H 2B-3B-HR RBIs BB SO SB/SBA
C Mark Zagunis, Virginia Tech, Jr. .341 62 232 62 79 14-3-9 51 32 29 19/24
1B Zach Stephens, Tennessee Tech, Sr. .336 57 229 59 77 17-1-15 71 38 74 0/0
2B Oscar Sanay, CSU Bakersfield, Sr. .362 59 224 48 81 13-6-1 45 25 22 4/6
3B Joey Pankake, South Carolina, Jr. .311 62 238 40 74 9-1-11 42 29 29 7/11
SS Trea Turner, NC State, So. .368 56 228 66 84 13-4-7 42 38 31 30/36
OF Skye Bolt, North Carolina, So. .321 54 212 48 68 14-2-6 51 32 28 10/13
OF Dylan Davis, Oregon State, Jr. .335 63 257 45 86 22-3-5 61 19 35 9/12
OF Brandon Downes, Virginia, Jr. .315 61 253 67 80 20-7-10 59 27 60 6/7
DH Kurt Wertz, Towson, Sr. .338 57 222 43 75 14-7-13 65 31 36 8/13
UT Ashton Perritt, Liberty, Jr. .343 40 172 34 59 7-2-6 17 9 4 18/21
3-2, 2.09 ERA, 22 App, 1 GS, 0 CG, 10SV, 38.2IP, 27H, 11R, 9ER, 13 BB, 37K

Pos. Name School W-L ERA APP GS CG SHO SV IP H R ER BB SO B/Avg.

SP Andrew Moore, Oregon State, So. 14-2 1.79 19 18 3 3/3 1 131 93 33 26 28 72 .207

^SP Harrison Musgrave, West Virginia, Jr. 9-1 2.17 14 14 3 3/2 0 95.1 65 24 23 29 81 .197

SP Bryan Radziewski, Miami, Fla., r-Jr. 9-3 1.78 15 14 2 2/3 0 91 53 24 18 30 109 .175

SP Trent Thornton, North Carolina, So. 12-1 1.37 29 6 0 0/3 8 91.2 69 22 14 19 81 .204

SP Grant Watson, UCLA, Jr. 9-3 3.01 18 17 0 0/2 0 92.2 93 36 31 16 55 .266

RP Trace Dempsey, Ohio State, Jr. 3-0 1.02 31 0 0 0/5 17 35.1 22 6 4 11 28 .180

RP Brian Miller, Vanderbilt, Jr. 5-2 1.58 32 0 0 0/1 16 57 37 13 10 11 48 .180

RP Ross Mitchell, Mississippi State, Jr. 13-0 1.53 34 0 0 0/1 2 94 72 22 16 29 44 .214

THIRD TEAM
Pos. Name, School, Class Avg. G AB R H 2B-3B-HR RBIs BB SO SB/SBA
C Tyler Baker, Wichita State, Jr. .328 65 238 41 78 15-3-4 46 26 39 1/1
1B Michael Katz, William & Mary, Sr. .358 55 212 49 76 23-1-5 47 31 32 3/4
2B Ryan Lindemuth, William & Mary, Sr. .351 63 251 61 88 14-2-4 49 17 20 3/7
3B Kevin Kramer, UCLA, Jr. .278 66 245 41 68 11-2-3 42 30 30 9/18
Chesny Young, Mercer, Jr. .401 61 262 56 105 18-3-4 65 28 25 9/12
SS Aaron Attaway, Western Carolina, Sr. .363 59 267 68 97 15-5-12 54 16 34 12/15
OF Garrett Bayliff, Wichita State, Sr. .379 63 240 44 91 9-1-0 39 24 38 11/16
OF Mark Payton, Texas, Sr. .393 50 178 27 70 11-8-0 29 28 23 3/6
OF Chad Carroll. James Madison, Jr. .389 51 193 50 75 14-8-3 55 13 31 21/24
DH Chase Raffield, Georgia State, Sr. .382 52 186 42 71 19-0-19 51 21 23 4/5
UT Clinton Freeman East Tenn. State, Sr. .335 60 239 39 80 18-4-10 57 27 36 2/5
7-1, 3.04 ERA, 25 App, 3GS, 0CG, 8SV, 56.1IP, 62H, 20R, 19ER, 15BB, 51K

Pos. Name School W-L ERA APP GS CG SHO SV IP H R ER BB SO B/Avg.

SP Daniel Gossett, Clemson, Jr. 10-4 2.56 16 16 1 1/4 0 98.1 78 40 28 38 91 .213

SP Cole Irvin, Oregon, So. 12-3 2.48 16 16 4 2/0 0 116 105 37 32 22 60 .248

SP Ryan Kellogg, Arizona State, So. 11-1 3.15 16 15 1 1/1 0 103 96 39 36 17 54 .246

SP Preston Morrison, TCU, Jr. 7-3 1.51 15 15 1 0/2 0 107 85 27 18 18 64 .217

SP Luke Weaver, Florida State, Jr. 7-2 2.29 17 15 0 0/1 0 98.1 78 26 25 19 119 .221

RP Zech Lemond, Rice, Jr. 7-2 2.02 32 1 0 0/7 14 75.2 56 19 17 21 71 .207

RP Sutter McLoughlin, Sacramento State, So. 1-3 2.11 28 0 0 0 17 38.1 27 13 9 9 26 .196

RP Ryan Thompson, Campbell, Sr. 9-1 0.88 31 0 0 0 10 71.2 51 9 7 15 57 .201

RP Josh Walker, New Mexico, Sr. 11-1 3.68 29 4 1 1/1 7 78.2 76 37 32 22 55 .258

*-Conference player of the year
^-Conference pitcher of the year