St. John's University Athletics
Baltz, Hansen Earn NCBWA Freshman All-America Honors
6/14/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
June 14, 2010
QUEENS, N.Y. - Freshmen Jeremy Baltz and Kyle Hansen have each earned Freshman All-America accolades from the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA). Baltz was a first team selection, while Hansen earned second team honors.
Baltz, who was named the Louisville Slugger Freshman Player of the Year, has also earned both Freshman All-America and second team All-America honors from Louisville Slugger. The BIG EAST Rookie of the Year finished the season with a .396 average, 16 doubles, 24 home runs and 85 RBI. A unanimous first team All-BIG EAST choice, Baltz started all 63 games for the Red Storm and also scored 64 runs to go with a .771 slugging percentage and a .479 on-base percentage.
The Charlottesville Regional MVP, Baltz broke St. John's single season records in home runs and RBI, while his 95 hits rank second all-time and his 64 runs scored are tied for sixth.
Baltz, who homered four times in a May 14 win at then-No. 8 Louisville, leads the nation in home runs by a freshman. The outfielder finished the regular season with 20 home runs before adding four blasts in five NCAA Tournament games, including a pair of two-run home runs in a 6-5 win against then-No. 1 Virginia.
A Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American, Hansen finished his rookie campaign with an 8-3 record and a 3.71 ERA. A third team All-BIG EAST choice, the righty made 18 appearances, including 15 starts, and tallied 85 strikeouts in 94.2 innings, while limiting opponents to a .227 average.
Hansen went 1-0 with a 0.63 ERA and 13 strikeouts in 14.1 innings in a pair of BIG EAST Tournament starts to earn the Jack Kaiser Award as the Most Outstanding Player of the Tournament.
In the St. John's single-season record books, Hansen finished the season tied for fourth in innings pitched, tied for ninth in strikeouts and tied for tenth in wins.
