By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee Tech junior designated hitter / outfielder Kevin Strohschein and senior hurler Travis Moths were both named All-Americans by Collegiate Baseball newspaper on Thursday. Strohschein earned a place on the All-American First Team while Moths took home a spot on the Second Team.
The Ohio Valley Conference's Player of the Year, Strohschein leads the nation in both hits (102) and total bases (179). In 57 games this season, the McDonough, Ga. native has hit .406 with 65 runs scored, 17 doubles, three triples, 18 home runs and 65 RBI. He slugged .713 and posted a .463 on base percentage as well during the year.
Early in the season, he tied a Tech program record with three home runs in a single game. Strohschein became the first player in OVC history to record three seasons with at least 60 RBI, three seasons with at least 75 hits and three seasons with at least 55 runs scored. He is also just the fourth player in league history (and second in school history) to record three seasons with at least 14 home runs.
Strohschein has been named a semifinalist for two National Player of the Year awards, including the Golden Spikes Award presented by USA Baseball (1 of 25 players) and the Dick Howser Trophy by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (1 of 35 players). He is one of four players in Tech history to be named OVC Player of the Year and just the fourth player in league history to win the honor multiple times. His 102 hits on the year rank as the second most in program history.
Moths captured OVC Pitcher of the Year honors after dominating on the hill for the Golden Eagles and making history along the way. After coming out of the bullpen a year ago, Moths moved into the No. 1 starters role for Tech this season and ranks second nationally in pitching victories with 13, which broke the Golden Eagle program's single-season record and is just one off the OVC all-time mark. For his career Moths now has 25 victories, which is also a new Tech career record.
Overall he has started 15 games, compiling a 13-2 record and 3.74 ERA. He has tallied 89.0 innings, striking out 93 batters and holding opponents to a .257 batting average. His only loss of the regular season came in the third game of the year at Troy, and after that contest he was 11-0 in his final 12 starts. He fanned a season-high nine batters against each UT Martin, Austin Peay, Southern Illinois and Eastern Kentucky.
Moths made the most of pitching for the nation's top-ranked offense, as the Golden Eagles averaged 8.1 runs/start for the senior. Moths is the third Tennessee Tech pitcher to be named OVC Pitcher of the Year since the award was first handed out in 1992 (Mark Maberry in 1997 and Lee Henry in 2010 were the others).
2018 COLLEGIATE BASEBALL NEWSPAPER ALL-AMERICANS
Photos by Thomas Corhern
