Four Jayhawks Earn All-Big 12 Honors
May 24, 2011
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. –
Four Kansas baseball players earned All-Big 12 Conference honors, the league office announced Tuesday. Senior outfielder Jimmy Waters was named to the second team, while freshman second baseman Ka’iana Eldredge was selected to the freshman all-conference squad. Senior outfielder Casey Lytle and pitcher T.J. Walz garnered honorable mention.
This marks the third season in a row that Kansas has had at least one first or second-team honoree.
Waters, a 6-foot-1 outfielder from Council Bluffs, Iowa, batted .278 with 15 doubles, seven homers and a team-best 38 RBIs while starting all 56 games. The senior hit .312 in league games with eight doubles, three homers and 23 RBIs against the Big 12. He ended the season strong, batting .370 during the month of May, which included a career-best 13-game hitting streak to close out the season. Waters also played error free in the field and recorded a team-best five outfield assists.
Eldredge, a 5-foot-11 freshman from Honolulu, Hawaii, got off to a slow start, but turned things up during conference play. The freshman infielder hit .268 overall with 13 doubles, 26 RBIs and 20 runs scored. He also ended strong, batting .356 over the team’s final 13 games. Eldredge garnered Big 12 Freshman of the Week honors on May 9, after going 8-for-11 in a three game series against Alabama A&M.
Lytle, a 6-foot-2 senior outfielder from Phoenix, Ariz., led the team with a .301 batting average overall with 10 doubles and 27 runs scored. He also stole a team-high 11 bases. The senior hit .323 in Big 12 play and tied for the longest hitting streak on the team, going 13 games during the month of March.
Walz, a 6-foot senior right-handed pitcher from Omaha, Neb., went 6-5 for the Jayhawks with a 3.97 ERA in 14 starts. The senior recorded a team-best 85 strikeouts in 90 2/3 innings on the hill, and held opponents to a .241 batting average. During the course of the season, Walz set KU’s career records for strikeouts (307), innings pitched (328.1) and games started (50) and matched the school record for wins (26).
Texas A&M sophomore infielder Tyler Naquin earned Big 12 Player of the Year honors, while Texas junior pitcher Taylor Jungmann was tabbed the conference’s Pitcher of the Year. Oklahoma State junior Zach Johnson was the Newcomer of the Year and Texas outfielder Erich Weiss garnered Freshman of the Year honors.
The Jayhawks finished their season on Sunday with a record of 26-30 overall and 9-18 in Big 12 play. The team placed ninth in the final conference standings.
