Bourquin, Shuck Named Big Ten Player, Freshman of the Year – Ohio State Buckeyes
5/23/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 23, 2006
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State third baseman Ronnie Bourquin was named Big Ten Player of the Year, starting pitcher/utility player J.B. Shuck was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year and a total of nine Buckeyes earned All-Big Ten honors the Big Ten office announced Tuesday. The 10 league coaches voted on the postseason awards.
Bourquin, a junior from Canton, Ohio (Canton South), becomes the fourth Buckeye to be voted as the conference’s top player. He joins Jonathan Sweet (1994), Dan Seimetz (1997) and Steve Caravati (2004) as Ohio State players who have been honored with the annual award since 1982. Bourquin, a three-time Big Ten Player of the Week selection this season, led the conference in hitting (.426), slugging percentage (.629), on-base percentage (.502), hits (86), runs batted in (66) and total bases (127), while ranking second in walks (31) and tied for third in home runs (8).
Shuck, a true freshman from Galion, Ohio (Galion), continued the streak of impressive Buckeye rookies as he became the ninth Ohio State player to be named the conference’s Freshman of the Year since the award’s inception 19 years ago in 1988. He also is the sixth Buckeye to earn the honor in the last eight seasons. A utility player for the majority of the season, Shuck shined on the mound, recording an overall ERA of 2.18 and seven total wins, which both were the second-best marks in the league. Shuck also hit .336 this season and totaled 19 RBI.
Bourquin was joined by three of his teammates in earning First Team All-Big Ten honors and was a unanimous selection at third base. Jason Zoeller (Jr., Verona, Pa./Shady Side Academy) was the first-team second baseman, Matt Angle (So., Whitehall, Ohio/Whitehall-Yearling) was a unanimous choice in the outfield and Dan DeLucia (Jr., Columbus, Ohio/Bishop Watterson) was one of four starting pitchers to earn first-team distinction. Zoeller ended the regular season with a .340 batting average and had 55 hits, including 11 doubles, four triples and five home runs to help bring in 25 runs while he scored 38. Angle’s .377 was tied for third in the Big Ten. He had 75 hits, 25 RBI, scored 61 runs and sacrificed himself 16 times. He stole 23-of-27 bases and had six outfield assists. DeLucia finished the year 10-2, the most victories by three over any other Big Ten pitcher and had an ERA of 3.49 with 62 strikeouts in 98.0 innings pitched. DeLucia was a third-team selection in 2005. Shuck was one of four pitchers to earn Second Team All-Big Ten honors and was joined on the team by Jedidiah Stephen (Sr., Caldwell, Ohio/Shenandoah) and catcher Eric Fryer (So., Reynoldsburg, Ohio/Reynoldsburg). Stephen batted .348 during the regular season and had 70 hits, including 19 doubles, three triples and eight home runs. He drove in 45 runs and scored 34 runs. Fryer had 75 hits, including 14 doubles, four triples and four home runs to drive in 51 runs. He scored 44 runs.
Outfielder Jacob Howell (Jr., Ashland, Ohio/Ashland), the 2004 Big Ten Freshman of the Year, was joined on the third team by starting pitcher Cory Luebke (So., Maria Stein, Ohio/Marion Local). Howell, who has battled a hamstring injury the second half of the season, managed a .409 batting average in 33 games. He had 52 hits, 22 RBI and 34 runs scored. Luebke finished 6-6 overall in 12 starts and tossed seven complete games, all in Big Ten play. He pitched a complete game shutout in the second game of the Purdue series and finished the regular season with a 3.72 ERA and 59 strikeouts in 77.1 innings.
Northwestern’s Dan Brauer was named the Big Ten Pitcher of the Year with a 7-1 record, 3.30 ERA and 90 strikeouts, while his coach Paul Stevens was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year for the third time in his career after leading the Wildcats to a 21-11 conference record and to within two games of its first Big Ten championship since 1957.
Cody Caughenbaugh (Sr., Newark, Ohio/Licking Valley) was honored by the conference as the school’s recipient of the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award for the second straight year. A fifth-year senior, Caughenbaugh played in just 13 games this year, but has played in 133 career games and has a .269 career batting average. One of the best students on his team, the mechanical engineering major is a two-time Academic All-District selection, a four-time Academic All-Big Ten selection and a five-time OSU Scholar-Athlete.
Ohio State will open the Big Ten tournament Wednesday at 3:35 p.m. as the No. 3 seed and will meet No. 6 seed Purdue. The Buckeyes took three of four games against the Boilermakers in late April at Bill Davis Stadium in Columbus.
Ohio State’s Previous Big Ten Award Winners
Four Big Ten Players of the Year (created 1982)
Ronnie Bourquin, 3B, 2006
Steve Caravati, OF, 2004
Dan Seimetz, 1B, 1997
Jonathan Sweet, C, 1994(c)
Four Big Ten Pitchers of the Year (created 1994)
Scott Lewis, 2004
Justin Fry, 1999
Justin Fry, 1997
Matt Beaumont, 1994
Nine Big Ten Freshmen of the Year (created 1988)
J.B. Shuck, SP, 2006
Jacob Howell, OF, 2004
Scott Lewis, SP, 2002
Doug Deeds, DH, 2001
Nick Swisher, 1B, 2000
E.J. Laratta, SP, 1999
Dan Seimetz, DH, 1995
Matt Beaumont, SP, 1992
Scott Klingenbeck, SP, 1990
Four Big Ten Coaches of the Year (created 1988)
Bob Todd, 1989, 1994, 1999, 2001
