FROM PRESS RELEASE
IRVING, Texas – A trio of student-athletes from Texas along with individuals from Kansas State and Texas Tech headlined the 2021 preseason All-Big 12 Baseball awards. The honorees were selected in a vote of the league’s head coaches. Coaches could not vote for their own players.
Texas Tech outfielder Dylan Neuse was selected as the Preseason Player of the Year. Kansas State’s Jordan Wicks and Texas’ Ty Madden shared Preseason Pitcher of the Year accolades. A pair of incoming Longhorns were honored as Mike Antico was named the Preseason Newcomer of the Year and Tanner Witt tabbed as the Preseason Freshman of the Year.
Eighteen individuals were selected to the preseason ledger and seven of the league’s teams were represented on the Preseason All-Big 12 Team.
Texas Tech led the way with four selections, followed by three apiece from Baylor, Oklahoma State and West Virginia. Oklahoma and Texas each had two honorees, while K-State had one selection.
Neuse started all 19 games for the Red Raiders last season as a junior. He hit .355 on the season and ranked among the team leaders in hits, runs, stolen bases and walks. He paced the Big 12 with 22 runs scored and ranked second with 12 stolen bases and fourth in the league with 27 hits. He produced a .487 slugging percentage and a .438 on-base percentage during the abbreviated season.
Wicks made four weekend starts in 2020, going 3-0 with a 0.35 ERA to pace Kansas State. His 0.35 earned run average ranked 10th in the country and was first among Big 12 starters. He began the season with a scoreless streak of 24 2/3 innings before allowing one earned run against Stanford on March 8. Opponents hit .151 against him, while he led the Wildcats in wins, innings pitched, ERA and was second in strikeouts.
Madden served as the Saturday starter for the Longhorns in 2020, pitching 25 innings and posting a 1.80 ERA with a 3-0 record. He struck out 26 batters and walked just four in 25 innings, while holding opponents to a .196 average.
Antico comes to Austin after an accomplished career at St. John’s from 2017 to 2020. He was a career .332 hitter with 22 doubles, seven triples and 13 homers along with 108 runs scored, 67 RBI and 44 career stolen bases. He was a 2019 unanimous first team All-BIG EAST selection and earned ABCA/Rawlings second team All-Region honors.
A right-handed pitcher and infielder from Houston, Witt was a four-year starter at Episcopal High School. He was a two-time All-State player and 2019 VYPE Private School Player of the Year. He was ranked the No. 1 shortstop in Texas, No. 4 overall player in the state and No. 18 nationally by Prep Baseball Report. In 2019, he participated in the Under Armour All-American Game and was a member of the 2017 USA Baseball 15U National Team.
The Big 12 preseason poll will be announced on Thursday, January 28. All nine league teams open the season on Friday, February 19.
| 2021 PRESEASON ALL-BIG 12 BASEBALL AWARDS | |||
| Player of the Year: | Dylan Neuse, Texas Tech, Jr., INF/OF, Fort Worth, Texas/McLennan CC | ||
| Pitcher of the Year: | Jordan Wicks, Kansas State, So., LHP, Conway, Ark./Conway | ||
| Ty Madden, Texas, R-So., RHP, Cypress, Texas/Cypress Ranch | |||
| Newcomer of the Year: | Mike Antico, Texas, R-Sr., OF, Colts Neck, N.J./St. John’s | ||
| Freshman of the Year: | Tanner Witt, Texas, RHP/INF, Houston, Texas/Episcopal | ||
| 2021 PRESEASON ALL-BIG 12 TEAM | |||
| Name, School | Pos. | Cl. | Hometown/Previous School |
| Andy Thomas, Baylor | C | Sr. | Murrieta, Calif./Murrieta |
| Peyton Graham, Oklahoma | INF | R-Fr. | Waxahachie, Texas/Waxahachie |
| Max Hewitt, Oklahoma State | INF | Sr. | Midhurst, Ontario/Connors State JC |
| Hueston Morrill, Oklahoma State | INF | So. | Live Oak, Fla./Suwannee |
| Cal Conley, Texas Tech | INF | R-Fr. | Mount Carmel, Ohio/West Clermont |
| Tyler Doanes, West Virginia | INF | Jr. | Fayetteville, Ga./Whitewater |
| Jared McKenzie, Baylor | OF | Fr. | Round Rock, Texas/Round Rock |
| Austin Todd, Texas | OF | R-Sr. | Round Rock, Texas/Round Rock |
| Dylan Neuse, Texas Tech | OF | Jr. | Fort Worth, Texas/McLennan CC |
| Nate Rombach, Texas Tech | DH | Fr. | Mansfield, Texas/Legacy |
| Paul McIntosh, West Virginia | DH | Jr. | Miami Gardens, Fla./Motlow State CC |
| Justin Campbell, Oklahoma State | UTL | Fr. | Simi Valley, Calif./Simi Valley |
| Jordan Wicks, Kansas State* | LHP | So. | Conway, Ark./Conway |
| Ty Madden, Texas* | RHP | R-So. | Cypress, Texas/Cypress Ranch |
| Micah Dallas, Texas Tech | RHP | So. | Aubrey, Texas/Homeschool |
| Jackson Wolf, West Virginia | LHP | Jr. | Gahanna, Ohio/Gahanna Lincoln |
| Luke Boyd, Baylor | RHP | Sr. | Ojai, Calif./Nordhoff |
| Jason Ruffcorn, Oklahoma | RHP | R-Sr. | Cedar Park, Texas/Texas A&M |
* Unanimous Choice
A tie in votes at DH created two spots for the position.
