Four Spartans Honored by American Baseball Coaches Association
6/30/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
June 30, 2011
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Four Michigan State Spartans have been honored by the American Baseball Coaches Association for their outstanding seasons in 2011.
Senior first baseman Jeff Holm was selected as an ABCA/Rawlings Third-Team All-American and was also a First-Team All-Mideast Region pick.
Sophomore third baseman Torsten Boss joined Holm on the All-Mideast Region First Team, while senior center fielder Brandon Eckerle and senior starting pitcher Kurt Wunderlich were named to the All-Mideast Region Second Team.
The All-Mideast Region Teams are voted on by the region's head coaches and Ohio head coach Joe Carbone, who as the chairman of the NCAA Mideast Region All-American Committee, tallies the votes and creates the two teams.
Holm is the first Spartan to earn ABCA All-America honors since Bob Malek was a first-team selection in 2002. Holm was also named to the Louisville Slugger All-America Third Team by Collegiate Baseball earlier this month. In addition, Holm is only the second first baseman in program history to garner ABCA All-America accolades and the first since Jerry Sutton made the third team in 1963.
In 2011, Holm became just the second Spartan in history and the first since Malek in 2002 to be named the Big Ten Player of the Year. The product of St. Charles, Ill., ranked among the top 10 Big Ten leaders in 10 statistical categories (batting, slugging, on-base percentage, runs, hits, RBIs, home runs, total bases, sacrifice flies, stolen bases).
A co-captain, Holm was clutch all season, as he led the team with 10 game-winning RBIs, including six in Big Ten play, while also ranking first on the team with 18 two-out RBIs. Holm led all Big Ten first baseman in batting, homers, RBIs, slugging (.588), on-base percentage (.441), runs (51), stolen bases (20), hits (85) and total bases (133) in 2011.
Holm was named Big Ten Player of the Week twice this season (March 14 and May 9) and earned National Player of the Week honors May 9 after batting .538 (7-for-13) with three homers and nine RBIs in the sweep over Purdue.
Defensively, Holm was arguably the top first baseman in the league, as he had the most putouts of any player in the conference (school-record 525) and made just two errors all season, good for a .996 fielding percentage.
Holm closed his career as one of the top Spartans in school history. In the MSU career record books, Holm ranks third in doubles (43) and runs scored (154), tied for third in RBIs (150), and fifth in hits (232). He was drafted in the 12th round of the 2011 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by Detroit and is currently playing for the Class A Connecticut Tigers in the New York-Penn League.
Boss, a first-team All-Big Ten selection, was named to the All-Mideast Region First Team after ranking among the top 10 Big Ten leaders in 10 offensive categories, including batting average (third at .370), slugging (second at .589) and RBIs (second with 59). The Lowell, Mich., native was second on the team with seven game-winning RBIs and 16 two-out RBIs, and led the team with 19 multi-RBI games. Boss is spending his summer playing for the Cotuit Kettlers in the prestigious Cape Cod League.
Eckerle, who was drafted in the 32nd round by Detroit, posted one of the best seasons in the 127-year history of Spartan baseball this spring. A unanimous first-team All-Big Ten selection, Eckerle won the conference batting crown with his .379 average and set an MSU single-season record with 96 hits in 2011. He is just the second Spartan to win a Big Ten batting title for overall games. Also a dynamic defensive player, Eckerle made countless highlight catches in center field and was voted by his teammates as the Defensive Player of the Year.
Eckerle closed his career as the all-time hits leader in program history with 261. The Durand, Mich., native, who started every game in center field the past three seasons (164 consecutive starts), also ranks second at MSU in runs scored with 158.
Off the field, Eckerle was just as successful, as he was named a first-team Academic All-American for his 3.98 GPA in general business administration/pre-law. Eckerle is just the third player in program history to earn Academic All-America honors twice in his career, as he was a third-team selection in 2010. He was also named one of 10 finalists for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award and was selected the 2011 Michigan Male College Athlete of the Year by the Detroit Athletic Club.
Eckerle is currently playing in the Gulf Coast Rookie League in the Tigers organization.
Drafted in the 20th round by Oakland, Wunderlich finished his senior season with an impressive 10-2 record and became the first Spartan to win Big Ten Pitcher of the Year honors. The 10 victories were a career high for Wunderlich, led the Big Ten in 2011, and tied for second most in an MSU season. The first-team All-Big Ten selection also set a school record with 101 2/3 innings pitched this season. Michigan State posted a 13-2 record when Wunderlich started, including a 7-1 mark in Big Ten play. He was named Big Ten Pitcher of the Week twice and threw a complete game shutout over Northwestern in his final appearance at McLane Baseball Stadium.
In his last game as a Spartan, Wunderlich struck out five and gave up just one run over eight innings as MSU defeated Purdue in the Big Ten Tournament; for his performance against the Boilermakers, Wunderlich was named to the all-tournament team. He was also voted the Robin Roberts Most Valuable Pitcher by his teammates.
Wunderlich won 26 games in his career, which ranks third in the school record books. In addition, his 258 2/3 innings are sixth most in school history. After starting out as a reliever as a freshman and sophomore, Wunderlich compiled an 18-5 record as a starter his final two seasons in East Lansing. He is playing for the Class A Vermont Lake Monsters in the New York-Penn League this summer.
