By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
To view the 2016 Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American selections, click here.
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – An already riveting, record-breaking, storybook freshman campaign produced yet another chapter Wednesday afternoon, as Tennessee Tech freshman outfielder Kevin Strohschein took home one of the highest athletic honors ever presented to a Golden Eagle athlete, 2016 Louisville Slugger National Co-Freshman Player of the Year.
While earning a place on the Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American Team named by Collegiate Baseball newspaper, the Tech rookie shared one of the four most prestigious national accolades awarded to a freshman baseball player each year with Clemson outfielder Seth Beer. Beer, the Player of the Year in the Atlantic Coast Conference, hit .369 with 18 home runs, 13 doubles and 70 RBI.
Cal State Fullerton's Colton Eastman took home Freshman Pitcher of the Year honors while Bryce Fehmel of Oregon State was named the Freshman Relief Pitcher of the Year. Eastman posted an 8-3 record with a 2.24 ERA, 100 strikeouts and 20 walks over 100 2/3 innings in 16 appearances. Fehmel was 10-1 with a 2.31 ERA, 2 saves and 51 strikeouts over 26 appearances that stretched over 70 innings.
Joining Strohschein on the Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American Team was teammate Ethan Roberts, a relief pitcher out of Sparta, Tenn. Roberts appeared in 17 games this year (16 out of the bullpen) and compiled a 2.94 earned run average and 6-1 record in 49 innings of work. Roberts also netted two saves and struck out 65 while walking only 18 batters. He was named to the OVC All-Rookie Team.
As for Strohschein, the honors represent just two in an already overflowing digital trophy case and record book assembled in a stunningly short period of time. In just his first season donning the Tech purple and gold, the right fielder 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.
A Louisville Slugger All-American Third Team selection by Collegiate Baseball newspaper just one week ago, the McDonough, Ga. native was also named the league's Rookie of the Year while making appearances on the All-OVC First Team and OVC All-Freshman Team.
Strohschein 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
