Gutierrez Named Big 12 POY; Tadlock Coach of the Year

From Big12Sports.com

2016 All-Big 12 Baseball Teams and Awards Announced

May 24, 2016

League champion Texas Tech highlights the 2016 All-Big 12 baseball awards as the Red Raiders collect eight all-conference selections, Tim Tadlock unanimously earns Big 12 Coach of the Year and Eric Gutierrez takes home Big 12 Player of the Year.

Oklahoma State and TCU repeat with the Pitcher and Freshman of the Year honors, respectively, as the Cowboys’ Thomas Hatch wins the Big 12 Pitcher of the Year and the Frogs’ Luken Baker is the Big 12 Freshman of the Year. Jake Scudder (K-State) wins the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year.

The team and awards are voted on by the league’s head coaches, who are not allowed to vote for their own players.

Gutierrez, who also becomes a three-time All-Big 12 First Team honoree, is the first Red Raider to win the Big 12 Player of the Year since Tech’s last Big 12 regular season championship in 1997 (Joe Dillon). The senior first baseman led the Big 12 in conference-only games in home runs, RBI, total bases and slugging percentage. His 14 multi-RBI games on the year are the most in the league. He is the league’s active career leader in games played, at-bats, hits, runs, RBI, doubles, home runs, total bases and walks. In overall games this season, he sits in the league lead for runs and RBI.

Hatch is Oklahoma State’s third Big 12 Pitcher of the Year recipient in the past five years after Michael Freeman took home the honor last season and Andrew Heaney won in 2012. Hatch missed the 2015 season with a sprained UCL, but returned to the OSU rotation as the Cowboys’ Friday night starter this year. In 14 starts as a redshirt sophomore, he is 6-2 with a Big 12-best 2.10 ERA. The right-hander also leads the conference with 98.2 innings pitched. Hatch threw three straight complete game shutouts this season (TCU, Texas and Prairie View A&M), becoming the 10th pitcher in Big 12 history to record three shutouts in a season. Additionally, he went 38.2 innings without allowing an earned run starting from the seventh inning of his start against Texas Tech on April 8 until the fourth inning vs. Oklahoma on May 13. The only runs he gave up during the streak were two of the unearned variety against Baylor on April 15. Hatch also recorded a streak of 33 consecutive scoreless frames and has won a pair of Big 12 Pitcher of the Week honors this season.

Baker is the second-straight Big 12 Freshman of the Year for the Frogs after Connor Wanhanen claimed the award in 2015. The Spring, Texas, native is a unanimous All-Big 12 First Team selection as a designated hitter and utility player while also earning unanimous honors on the All-Freshman Team. Appearing in all 52 games for TCU, he finished the regular season with the 10th-best batting average in the league (.340), while also ranking in the top 10 in walks, RBI and on-base percentage. In conference-only contests, he hit .371. In 10 games started on the mound, he posted a 1.70 ERA and 3-1 record, fanning 41 in 47.2 innings.

Scudder is the first Wildcat to win the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year accolade. The junior transfer from Iowa Western Community College closed out the season with the best batting average in conference-only games, hitting .407, while also tying for the most hits in league action. He ranked third in Big 12 games in slugging percentage, fourth in total bases and sixth in on-base percentage. An All-Big 12 Second Team member, he finished the regular season with 13 multi-RBI games and 21 multi-hit games.

Tadlock, a unanimous selection for the honor, took a Texas Tech team predicted to finish fifth in the preseason coaches’ poll to its first Big 12 regular season title since the league’s inaugural season in 1997. In his fourth year at the helm, Tadlock has produced the winningest senior class at TTU, guided the Red Raiders to an 8-0 record in Big 12 series openers and finished the conference season with the fourth-best win percentage in league games in conference history (19-4, .792). The Red Raiders won seven of their eight conference series and strung together a school-record 11-game Big 12 win streak. Tech went 10-2 in Big 12 play on the road, becoming just one of 12 teams to record double-digit away wins in conference history.

Texas Tech and Oklahoma State pace league teams with four All-Big 12 First Team honorees while Kansas and TCU also place multiple members on the first team.

Oklahoma’s Sheldon Neuse becomes a three-time unanimous All-Big 12 First Team selection, while Oklahoma State’s Donnie Walton and Tech’s Gutierrez have also earned first team recognition for three seasons straight. The trio joins just seven other Big 12 players who have garnered All-Big 12 First Team selections in three seasons. Gutierrez and Walton are the first three-time first team recipients for their programs.

The Red Raiders tallied a total of eight All-Big 12 selections between the first and second teams, with TCU totaling seven and Oklahoma State five. Twelve of the 17 first team selections were unanimous choices with 14 of the members earning their first All-Big 12 First Team distinction.

On the All-Freshman Team, TCU led the way with four honorees, including Baker’s unanimous nod. Tech’s Davis Martin, an All-Big 12 First Team honoree, was also a unanimous choice. Dalton Horton (TCU), Steven Gingery (Texas Tech) and Darius Hill (West Virginia) were named to the All-Freshman Team, as well as selected to the All-Big 12 Second Team.

2016 ALL-BIG 12 BASEBALL AWARDS
Player of the Year:	Eric Gutierrez, Texas Tech, Sr., INF, Mission, Texas/Sharyland
Pitcher of the Year:	Thomas Hatch, Oklahoma State, So., RHP, Tulsa, Okla./Jenks
Newcomer of the Year:	Jake Scudder, Kansas State, Jr., INF, Rock Island, Ill./Iowa Western CC
Freshman of the Year:	Luken Baker, TCU, DH/RHP, Spring Texas/Oak Ridge
Coach of the Year:	Tim Tadlock Texas Tech*

ALL-BIG 12 FIRST TEAM
Name, School	Pos.	Cl.	Hometown/Previous School
Michael Tinsley, Kansas *+	C	Jr.	Menlo Park, Calif./Junipero Sierra
Sheldon Neuse, Oklahoma *^#	INF	Jr.	Fort Worth, Texas/Keller Fossil Ridge
J.R. Davis, Oklahoma State	INF	Jr.	Vallejo, Calif./Contra Costa CC
Donnie Walton, Oklahoma State *^#~	INF	Sr.	Tulsa, Okla./Bishop Kelley
Elliott Barzilli, TCU *	INF	Jr.	Los Angeles, Calif./Georgia Tech
Eric Gutierrez, Texas Tech *^#	INF	Jr.	Mission, Texas/Sharyland
Clayton Dalrymple, Kansas State	OF	Sr.	Coppell, Texas/Coppell
Tanner Gardner, Texas Tech *	OF	So.	Frisco, Texas/Centennial
Stephen Smith, Texas Tech +	OF	Jr.	Wolfforth, Texas/Frenship
Luken Baker, TCU *	UTL	Fr.	Spring, Texas/Oak Ridge
Luken Baker, TCU	DH	Fr.	Spring, Texas/Oak Ridge
Ben Krauth, Kansas *+	LHP	Sr.	Concord, Calif./Diablo Valley College
Thomas Hatch, Oklahoma Stat e*	RHP	So.	Tulsa, Okla./Jenks
Davis Martin, Texas Tech *	RHP	Fr.	San Angelo, Texas/Central
Chad Donato, West Virginia *@	RHP	Jr.	Cypress, Texas/Cypress Woods
Troy Montemayor, Baylor	RHP	So.	San Antonio, Texas/Reagan
Tyler Buffett, Oklahoma State *	RHP	Jr.	Albuquerque, N.M./Albuquerque Academy
ALL-BIG 12 SECOND TEAM
Name, School	Pos.	Cl.	Hometown/Previous School
Evan Skoug, TCU @%	C	So.	Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville
Steven McLean, Baylor	INF	So.	Los Altos, Calif./Los Altos
Colby Wright, Kansas &	INF	Sr.	Castro Valley, Calif./Castro Valley
Jake Scudder, Kansas State	INF	Jr.	Rock Island, Ill./Iowa Western CC
Garrett Benge, Oklahoma State	INF	So.	Yukon, Okla./Cowley County CC
Cam Warner, TCU	INF	Jr.	Canberra, Australia/Hill College
Jackson Cramer, West Virginia +	INF	Jr.	Coppell, Texas/Coppell
Dane Steinhagen, TCU @	OF	Sr.	Beaumont, Texas/Howard College
Tyler Neslony, Texas Tech @&	OF	Sr.	Corpus Christi, Texas/Calallen
Darius Hill, West Virginia	OF	Fr.	Dallas, Texas/Jesuit
Kameron Esthay, Baylor %	UTL	So.	Moss Bluff, La./Sam Houston
Cory Raley, Texas Tech +	DH	Sr.	Uvalde, Texas/Temple College
Daniel Castano, Baylor @	LHP	Jr.	Austin, Texas/Lake Travis
Ty Culbreth, Texas	LHP	Sr.	Bryan, Texas/Bryan
Dalton Horton, TCU	LHP	Fr.	Center, Texas/Center
Steven Gingery, Texas Tech	LHP	Fr.	Huntington Beach, Calif./Marina
Stephen Villines, Kansas @!	RHP	Jr.	Lake Forest, Calif./El Toro
Hayden Howard, Texas Tech	LHP	Jr.	Carrollton, Texas/Seward CC

HONORABLE MENTION
Baylor:	Matt Menard, Drew Tolson
Kansas:	Matt McLaughlin
Kansas State:	Josh Rolette
Oklahoma:	Chris Andritsos, Jack Flansburg, JB Olson, Cody Thomas, Steele Walker
Oklahoma State:	Trey Cobb, Jensen Elliott, Corey Hassel, Dustin Williams
TCU:	Durbin Feltman, Jared Janczak, Austen Wade, Josh Watson
Texas:	Tres Barrera, Kacy Clemens, Zane Gurwitz, Travis Jones, Patrick Mathis
Texas Tech:	Michael Davis, Robert Dugger
West Virginia:	Kyle Davis, Jimmy Galusky, Michael Grove, Blake Smith, Ivan Vera

Ties in voting created six second team infielders.
 

ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM
Name, School	Pos.	Hometown/Previous School
Josh Rolette, Kansas State	C	Shawnee, Okla./Shawnee
Chris Andritsos, Oklahoma	RHP	The Woodlands, Texas/The Woodlands
Steele Walker, Oklahoma	OF	Prosper, Texas/Prosper
Jensen Elliott, Oklahoma State	RHP	Coppell, Texas/Coppell
Luken Baker, TCU*	RHP/DH	Spring, Texas/Oak Ridge
Durbin Feltman, TCU	RHP	Conroe, Texas/Oak Ridge
Dalton Horton, TCU	LHP	Center, Texas/Center
Josh Watson, TCU	OF	Arlington, Texas/Martin
Steven Gingery, Texas Tech	LHP	Huntington Beach, Calif./Marina
Davis Martin, Texas Tech*	RHP	San Angelo, Texas/Central
Darius Hill, West Virginia	OF	Dallas, Texas/Jesuit
Ivan Vera, West Virginia	C	Round Rock, Texas/Stony Point

* Unanimous Choice
^2015 First Team Honoree
+2015 Second Team Honoree
Honorable Mention
%2015 All-Freshman Team
#2014 First Team Honoree
&2014 Second Team Honoree
!2014 Honorable Mention
~2013 Honorable Mention
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