By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information Coordinator
JACKSON, Tenn. – It seems crazy to think that a player could outperform even the most lofty expectations placed upon him following his very first plate appearance in a Division I collegiate baseball game, but Tennessee Tech's Kevin Strohschein did just that during the 2016 baseball season, culminating one of arguably the greatest seasons by a rookie in the 67-year history of the Ohio Valley Conference by becoming the league's first freshman to garner Player of the Year honors at the league's annual awards banquet.
The true freshman wasted little time wowing Tech and baseball fans all around the Upper Cumberland and Cookeville area, blasting a grand slam in his first career plate appearance to help the Golden Eagles to a 13-12 victory in the season opener against Western Illinois. His five RBI, and first double, proved to be just a tease of what those fans could come to expect from the McDonough, Ga. native, but even the most avid Golden Eagle follower couldn't have expected this.
Even after racking up an eye-popping nine RBI and two home runs in his first full weekend of collegiate baseball, experts couldn't be expected to predict anything more than a push towards OVC Rookie of the Year honors, what with the potency of offense littered throughout the league year-in and year-out. And yet the mystique only continued to grow and gather steam, especially after an early-season swoon saw the rookie encounter his first struggles.
On March 18, 2016, the future OVC Rookie of the Year recipient finished off a series-opening victory over UT Martin a tough, 0-for-4 with two strikeouts, a pop up and a fly out. His season batting average had dipped to .242 and he had totaled just one more home run and six additional RBI since his scorching-hot start to his career.
No one could have seen what was to follow, however. For some unknown reason, that contest was the tipping point of the year for the eventual All-OVC First Team member.
Just one month after reaching what would represent the low point of his rookie campaign, Strohschein wrapped up a three-game series against Jacksonville State batting an unreal .382 on the year with nine doubles, five long balls and 25 runs batted in over the one-month span since that first UT Martin contest. By the end of the regular season, he found himself on the brink of several single-season program records and the owner of four program freshman marks as well as three single-game standards.
Over the final 37 games of the season, the OVC All-Freshman Team honoree leaped up the leaderboards in the OVC, finishing out the regular season leading the league with 70 RBI and 155 total bases, ranking second with a .393 average, .708 slugging percentage and 86 hits, and cracking the top five in runs scored (55), doubles (21) and home runs (14). His 1.32 RBI per game ranked him second nationally while his 155 total bases placed him third.
So much went into those final 37 contests, including hit streaks of nine, 10 and 15 games. In fact, he went hitless in just three of those match-ups, exploding in an April 5 tilt at Alabama A&M to break or tie three school records. While the team broke and tied two marks in the 34-6 rout, it was the right fielder's performance that shown most brightly.
Strohschein tallied a school-record nine RBI thanks to a program-best six hits while tying the Tech mark for runs scored with six. He also tied the school's single-season grand slam record with his third four-run circus clout of the season in the ninth inning. The performance alone would have been enough to garner him his first OVC Player of the Week honors, but he added more in the weekend series at Eastern Illinois, helping Tech a three-game sweep.
Along the journey to his remarkable accomplishment, the rookie has claimed program freshman records for hits, home runs, RBI and doubles and ranks in a tie for fifth for most RBI in a single season. He captured his second OVC Player of the Week and first National Player of the Week accolades after flirting with the national record for consecutive hits, starting off Tech's three-game series with Southeast Missouri a staggering 9-for-9 before a diving effort on a would-be double robbed him of his 10th straight base hit.
But despite all the accolades, stats and milestones, Strohschein would be the first to direct the attention to his teammates, several of which also represented the Golden Eagles on stage at the awards banquet Tuesday evening.
Named to the OVC All-Second Team in his first season in the purple and gold, junior Chris Brown had himself a sensational year at the plate, ranking second on the TTU squad in most offensive categories. The catcher blasted 10 home runs and nine doubles while batting .335 and slugging .537.
Brown closed out the year on a strong note, collecting hits in five of his 11 at bats, including a double and home run, in Tech's three-game series sweep of Eastern Kentucky. His five RBI in the series led the team, as did his .818 slugging percentage.
Joining Strohschein on the OVC's All-Freshman squad were two crucial members to the Golden Eagles' season, reliever Ethan Roberts and center fielder Alex Junior.
Roberts proved to be Tech's most valuable arm out of the bullpen in the 2016 season, posting a team-best 2.74 ERA while tossing 46 innings over 16 appearances, including one start. He fanned an impressive 59 batters while walking just 15 on the year and ranked first on the Golden Eagle squad with a 6-1 record.
The right-hander was especially impressive over his final four appearances on the year, racking up four or more innings in each. His best performance, however, came at Belmont, where he struck out a career-best 10 of the 12 batters he faced with no walks.
Junior developed into a very dependable leadoff man and center fielder for the Golden Eagles, leading Tech with 32 walks and tying for the team lead with 16 hit-by-pitches. He also led the Golden Eagles with 12 stolen bases and 10 sacrifice hits while providing game-changing speed both on offense and defense. He tied for fourth on the Tech squad with 43 runs scored, averaging nearly a run per game.
The Golden Eagles will now turn their focus to the 2016 OVC Tournament and first-round foe Morehead State. Tech will match-up with the No. 4 seed in a 1 p.m. CT tilt Wednesday afternoon at the Ballpark at Jackson.
2016 All-OVC Baseball Teams and Award Winners
OVC Co-Player of the Year: Mandy Alvarez, Eastern Kentucky
OVC Co-Player of the Year: Kevin Strohschein, Tennessee Tech
OVC Pitcher of the Year: Joey Lucchesi, Southeast Missouri
OVC Rookie of the Year: Kevin Strohschein, Tennessee Tech
OVC Coach of the Year: Steve Bieser, Southeast Missouri
ALL-OVC FIRST TEAM
C - Tyler Lawrence, Murray State
1B - Ramsey Scott, Murray State
2B - Clayton Daniel, Jacksonville State
SS - Branden Boggetto, Southeast Missouri
3B - Mandy Alvarez, Eastern Kentucky
OF - Kevin Strohschein, Tennessee Tech
OF - Kyle Nowlin, Eastern Kentucky
OF - Chris Osborne, Southeast Missouri
DH - Garrett Gandolfo, Southeast Missouri
UT - Logan Gray, Austin Peay
SP - Joey Lucchesi, Southeast Missouri
SP - Matt Anderson, Morehead State
SP - Robert Beltran, Southeast Missouri
RP - Justin Hoyt, Jacksonville State
ALL-OVC SECOND TEAM
C - Chris Brown, Tennessee Tech
1B - Tyler Gamble, Jacksonville State
2B - Trevor Ezell, Southeast Missouri
SS - Reid Leonard, Morehead State
3B - Alex Stephens, Morehead State
OF - Brennan Washington, Belmont
OF - Chase Hamilton, Austin Peay
OF - Will Schneider, Morehead State
OF - Adam Bauer, Murray State
DH - Keaton Wright, SIUE
UT - Clay Payne, Belmont
SP - Alex Robles, Austin Peay
SP - Tyler Vaughn, Belmont
SP - Clay Chandler, Southeast Missouri
RP - Jared Carkuff, Austin Peay
ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM
1B - Chas Hadden, Belmont
UTIL - Hunter Holland, Belmont
RP - Kyle Klotz, Belmont
SS - Nick Maton, Eastern Illinois
SS - Reid Leonard, Morehead State
OF - Niko Hulsizer, Morehead State
C - Hunter Fain, Morehead State
DH - Trevor Snyder, Morehead State
SS - Jaron Robinson, Murray State
OF/2B - Logan Andersen, SIUE
RP - Ethan Roberts, Tennessee Tech
OF - Alex Junior, Tennessee Tech
OF - Kevin Strohschein, Tennessee Tech
Photo by Mike Lehman
