St. John's University Athletics
Four St. John's Players Garner All-BIG EAST Accolades
5/24/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 24, 2011
CLEARWATER, Fla. - Four St. John's players earned All-BIG EAST honors as announced by the conference at the 2011 BIG EAST Tournament opening ceremonies. Jeremy Baltz, Kyle Hansen and Joe Panik were each named to the first team as St. John's was the only squad to have three first team selections. Paul Karmas, meanwhile, earned third team honors to become the Red Storm's first three-time All-BIG EAST honoree since Kevin McGerry (1998-2000).
The 2010 BIG EAST Rookie of the Year, Baltz earns first team honors for the second-straight season. The outfielder is batting .309 with 12 doubles, six home runs and 52 RBI. Baltz also has a .497 slugging percentage and a .442 on-base percentage. The sophomore ranks tied for fifth in the conference in RBI and tied for 10th in home runs.
The reigning BIG EAST Tournament Most Outstanding Player and a 2010 All-BIG EAST third team selection, Hansen is 8-5 with a 2.56 ERA in 91.1 innings of work. The righty has racked up 93 strikeouts and is limiting the opposition to just a .213 average. Hansen has one complete game shutout and also has one save. Among the BIG EAST leaders, Hansen ranks third in strikeouts, fourth in opponent average, tied for fourth in wins, seventh in ERA and 10th in innings.
Panik, who earned All-BIG EAST third team honors as a sophomore, leads the team in average (.396), runs (53), home runs (9), RBI (53), triples (3), slugging percentage (.650), on-base percentage (.506) and stolen bases (17). The shortstop ranks in the top 10 in the conference in nearly every offensive category, including average (tied for first), slugging percentage (second), runs (tied for second), total bases (tied for second), RBI (fourth), walks (tied for fourth), home runs (tied for fifth), doubles (tied for seventh), stolen bases (eighth) and triples (tied for 10th). Panik also leads the BIG EAST, and ranks 14th nationally, in on-base percentage.
A second team honoree as a freshman and a third team selection as a sophomore, Karmas is batting .321 with five home runs and 38 RBI, while ranking fifth in the league with a career-high 19 doubles. The first baseman has already set new career-highs in runs (44), walks (31) and stolen bases (5). The program's all-time leader in doubles, Karmas ranks second all-time in RBI (170) and tied for fourth in hits (239).
St. John's, the second seed in the BIG EAST Tournament, opens defense of its 2010 crown against seventh-seeded Cincinnati at 1 p.m. on May 25.
