St. John's University Athletics
Mooney Tabbed as NCBWA National Freshman Pitcher of the Year
6/13/2017 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
NCBWA Release
QUEENS, N.Y. - For the second time in as many weeks, St. John's right-hander Sean Mooney has been recognized as the nation's top rookie hurler by a distinguished organization, taking home National Freshman Pitcher of the Year honors form the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association on Tuesday afternoon.
Also named Collegiate Baseball's National Freshman Pitcher of the Year last Wednesday, Mooney becomes the first pitcher and just the second player overall in St. John's history to earn national freshman of the year honors from the NCBWA, as Jeremy Baltz was selected as the National Freshman Hitter of the Year in 2010 after launching a school-record 24 home runs and registering 85 RBIs.
The 2017 BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year and BIG EAST Freshman of the Year, Mooney became just the second player in league history to garner both accolades simultaneously, joining Boston College's Chris Lambert, an eventual first round pick who accomplished the feat in 2002.
Mooney, a Third Team Collegiate Baseball All-American, finished his freshman campaign with an 8-2 record, compiling an ERA of 1.71 and a 0.86 WHIP, both of which rank in the top 10 nationally. Before suffering setbacks in his final two starts of the year, Mooney won his first eight decisions and carried a 1.10 ERA into the postseason.
After striking out 10 batters in five innings during his first collegiate start at Liberty on March 10, Mooney never went fewer than seven innings in any of his next nine appearances, including six starts of eight innings or longer and one complete game shutout. The first St. John's pitcher since James Lomangino in 2013 to record two separate 10-strikeout performances in the same season, Mooney punched out 88 batters and surrendered just 16 walks in 100 frames of work on the campaign.
Yesterday, Mooney was named to the NCBWA Freshman All-America Team, one of just 31 rookies nationwide to earn the honor.
