Six Buckeyes Earn Big Ten Honors, Dezse Freshman of the Year – Ohio State Buckeyes
5/24/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Josh Dezse was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year and, along with senior right-hander Drew Rucinski, was named second team All-Big Ten, the conference office announced Tuesday. Dezse, Tim Wetzel and Greg Greve also garnered All-Big Ten Freshman team honors. Theron Minium was named the Buckeyes’ sportsmanship award honoree.
Michigan State swept the rest of the conference awards with Jeff Holm earning Player of the Year honors, Kurt Wunderlich Pitcher of the Year laurels and Jake Boss Jr. was named Coach of the Year.
Dezse becomes the 10th Buckeye to be named Big Ten Freshman of the Year and the first since J.B. Shuck in 2006. The Powell, Ohio, native batted .341 with 11 doubles, four home runs, 42 RBI and 29 runs scored in the regular season. He also went 4-1 with 29 strikeouts and five saves in 25.0 innings pitched out of the bullpen. Dezse was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week four times during the season and Big Ten Player of the Week twice. He led the Buckeyes with 12 multiple RBI games and was tied for second on the team with 17 multi-hit contests.
Rucinski, the Buckeyes Friday night starter, finished the regular season third in the Big Ten with a 2.88 ERA while going 5-3 with 50 strikeouts in 75.0 innings pitched. Batters hit just .262 against the right-hander. He gave up two earned runs or less in eight of his 12 starts and never gave up more than four in any outing. Rucinski tossed at least six innings in nine of his 12 starts and one of the other three starts he left after the second inning because of a blister on his pitching hand.
Wetzel batted .274 with 17 RBI and 31 runs scored in 44 starts in center field. He also stole five bases while walking 19 times. The Mayfield, Ohio, native had 12 multi-hit games and recorded a 12-game hitting streak, the second-longest for a Buckeye this season.
Greve was the Buckeyes Sunday starter all season, going 3-2 with a 4.74 ERA and 44 strikeouts in 62.2 innings pitched. He was second on the team with a 3.51 ERA in Big Ten play. The freshman was lights out down the stretch, picking up the win in his last two starts, both must-win games for the Buckeyes, tossing 13 scoreless innings, giving up nine hits and two walks while striking out eight.
Minium, an English major, has appeared in 66 career games over his four-year career, striking out 72 batters in 119.2 innings pitched while earning three saves.
The Buckeyes take on Minnesota in the first game of the Big Ten tournament at 12:05 p.m. Wednesday at Huntington Park.
