Big Ten Announces Baseball All-Big Ten Honors and Individual Award Winners
Illinois’ Bren Spillane earns Big Ten Player of the Year plaudits
ROSEMONT, Ill. — The Big Ten on Tuesday announced the 2018 baseball individual award winners and All-Big Ten teams, as selected by the conference coaches. Illinois’ Bren Spillane was named the Big Ten Player of the Year, Minnesota’s Patrick Fredrickson earned Pitcher and Freshman of the Year recognition and Minnesota head coach John Anderson was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year.
Spillane becomes the 10th Illinois standout to claim Big Ten Player of the Year honors, and the first since David Kerian in 2015. A first baseman for the Illini, Spillane ranks first in the Big Ten in batting average (.407), slugging percentage (.944), on base percentage (.512), runs batted in (57) and home runs (22).
Fredrickson becomes the third Minnesota hurler to earn Big Ten Pitcher of the Year accolades and the fourth student to capture Big Ten Freshman of the Year plaudits. In all games, the right-handed starter currently leads the Big Ten in opponent’s batting average (.207) and ranks second with a 1.80 ERA.
Anderson was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year for the seventh time, the most in Big Ten history. Anderson, who claimed the award for the first time since 2016, guided the Golden Gophers to their 24th Big Ten Championship this season.
The Big Ten also announced the Sportsmanship Award honorees from each institution. The students chosen are individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. These students must also be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting.
The complete list of All-Big Ten teams and award winners can be found below.
Player of the Year: Bren Spillane, Illinois
Pitcher of the Year: Patrick Fredrickson, Minnesota
Freshman of the Year: Patrick Fredrickson, Minnesota
Coach of the Year: John Anderson, Minnesota
All-Big Ten First Team
C – Tyler Cropley, Iowa
1B – BREN SPILLANE, ILLINOIS
2B – Nick Dunn, Maryland
SS – TERRIN VAVRA, MINNESOTA
3B – Noah McGowan, Ohio State
OF – Matt Gorski, Indiana
OF – Robert Neustrom, Iowa
OF – Jonathan Engelmann, Michigan
SP – Jonathan Stiever, Indiana
SP – Nick Allgeyer, Iowa
SP – Patrick Fredrickson, Minnesota
RP – Max Meyer, Minnesota
DH – Dominic Clementi, Michigan
UTIL – Matt Lloyd, Indiana
All-Big Ten Second Team
C – Jesse Wilkening, Nebraska
1B – Scott Schreiber, Nebraska
2B – Michael Massey, Illinois
SS – Ben Troike, Illinois
3B – Micah Coffey, Minnesota
OF – Jordan Nwogu, Michigan
OF – Ben Mezzenga, Minnesota
OF – Dominic Canzone, Ohio State
SP – Pauly Milto, Indiana
SP – Tommy Henry, Michigan
SP – Reggie Meyer, Minnesota
RP – Seth Kinker, Ohio State
DH – Scotty Bradley, Indiana
UTIL – Kevin Biondic, Maryland
All-Big Ten Third Team*
C – Nick Dalesandro, Purdue
1B – Jacson McGowan, Purdue
2B – Luke Pettersen, Minnesota
SS – Jack Dunn, Northwestern
3B – Luke Miller, Indiana
OF – Doran Turchin, Illinois
OF – Logan Sowers, Indiana
OF – Tyler Cowles, Ohio State
SP – Ben Dragani, Michigan
SP – Karl Kauffmann, Michigan
SP – Tanner Andrews, Purdue
RP – Joey Gerber, Illinois
RP – Ross Learnard, Purdue
DH – Chris Whelan, Iowa
UTIL – Conner Pohl, Ohio State
All-Big Ten Freshman Team*
C – Gunner Hellstrom, Nebraska
1B – JESSE FRANKLIN, MICHIGAN
2B – Drew Ashley, Indiana
SS – Dan DiGeorgio, Rutgers
3B – Zach Iverson, Michigan State
OF – JORDAN NWOGU, MICHIGAN
OF – Jaxon Hallmark, Nebraska
OF – Dillon Dingler, Ohio State
OF – BEN NISLE, PURDUE
SP – Ben Dragani, Michigan
SP – Mason Erla, Michigan State
SP – PATRICK FREDRICKSON, MINNESOTA
SP – Trent Johnson, Purdue
RP – MAX MEYER, MINNESOTA
DH – Parker Hendershot, Penn State
UTIL – Zach Iverson, Michigan State
Sportsmanship Award Honorees
Jackson Douglas, Illinois
B.J. Sabol, Indiana
Austin Guzzo, Iowa
Billy Phillips, Maryland
Harrison Salter, Michigan
Kory Young, Michigan State
Micah Coffey, Minnesota
Mojo Hagge, Nebraska
J.R. Reimer, Northwestern
Adam Niemeyer, Ohio State
Jake Pilewicz, Penn State
Tanner Andrews, Purdue
Kyle Walker, Rutgers
* Additional honorees due to ties
Unanimous selections in ALL CAPS