By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
To view the 2016 Louisville Slugger All-American selections, click here.
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Fresh off arguably the greatest rookie season turned in by a freshman in both Tennessee Tech and Ohio Valley Conference baseball history, Kevin Strohschein has been recognized on the national level for incredible efforts and accomplishments during the 2016 season, garnering Louisville Slugger All-American honors by Collegiate Baseball newspaper.
A native of McDonough, Ga., Strohschein became the first freshman in the 67-year history of the OVC to earn Player of the Year honors after leading the league in RBI and total bases and ranking in the top five in batting average, slugging percentage, hits, doubles and home runs. He was also named the league's Rookie of the Year while making appearances on the All-OVC First Team and OVC All-Freshman Team.
In just his first season donning the Tech purple and gold, the right fielder littered his name all over the program's record book, breaking freshman records for hits, doubles, home runs, RBI, runs, and total bases. He clubbed a team-high 15 long balls on the year while racking up the third-most RBI in school history by driving in 73 runs.
The youngster's 90 hits tied for the third most by a Golden Eagle ever and his 21 doubles and 15 home runs each ranked in the top 10 in program history. Strohschein's .393 average and .707 slugging percentage ranked as the second-best showing by a freshman to only Jim Whaley, who hit .516 and slugged .730 back in 1963. His 39 extra base hits also ranked as a program first by a freshman and finished as the fourth-most ever by a Tech ball player.
He scored 57 runs on the year, one of nine offensive categories he led his squad in on the year. He also made just one error all season, posting an impressive .990 fielding percentage with five assists.
After batting just .242 with three home runs and 12 RBI through his first 16 games, Strohschein went on a tear over his final 37 contests, posting 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.
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.
Photo by Tony Marable
