Rutgers third-baseman Patrick Kivelehan, who became the first player in league history to win the BIG EAST Triple Crown, became the third Scarlet Knight player to be named BIG EAST Player of the Year as he earned the league’s top individual honor Tuesday in advance of the 2012 BIG EAST Baseball Championship at Bright House Field.
Louisville pitcher Justin Amlung was chosen as BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year, while the Cardinals also had the BIG EAST Rookie of the Year as pitcher Jared Ruxer was tabbed as the league’s top newcomer. St. John’s head coach Ed Blankmeyer was named the BIG EAST Coach of the Year for the fifth time in his career.
Kivlehan’s selection as BIG EAST Player of the Year punctuates an incredible season for the Scarlet Knight third-baseman – a four-year football player for Rutgers who had not played baseball since high school before he joined the team as a walk-on in January. He finished the BIG EAST portion of the schedule with a .402 batting average, 10 home runs and 36 RBI in conference games, becoming the first player in conference history to lead the league in all three categories. He played in 49 games overall and led the BIG EAST in batting (.399), slugging (.710), home runs (14) and on-base percentage (.484). He was third in the BIG EAST with 50 RBI and ranked second with 130 total bases.
Kivlehan joins Todd Frazier (2007) and Darren Fenster (2000) as Rutgers players who have been named BIG EAST Player of the Year.
Amlung becomes the fourth Louisville player in the last six years to be chosen as BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year after he helped the Cardinals to a share of the BIG EAST regular-season title and the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament. He went 5-1 with a 1.63 earned-run average and 63 strikeouts in 60.2 innings in league play and had a league-leading 2.16 ERA overall. Amlung takes an 8-3 record, with 94 strikeouts in 96 innings, into the postseason and joins Thomas Royse (2010), Justin Marks (2009) and Zack Pitts (2007) as Louisville’s BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year selections.
Ruxer is the second Louisville player, and the first since Marks in 2007, to be named as BIG EAST Rookie of the Year. Ruxer went 8-1 with a 2.61 ERA in 14 appearances in the regular season and was 3-1 with a 2.64 ERA in five BIG EAST starts. He enters the postseason ranked second in the BIG EAST in wins and fifth in ERA.
Blankmeyer was named BIG EAST Coach of the Year for a record fifth time as he previously earned the honor in 1996, 2005, 2007 and 2008. He led St. John’s to a 33-21 record in the regular-season and helped the Red Storm to a share of their seventh BIG EAST regular-season title with an 18-9 conference record. The 18 conference wins lifted Blankmeyer’s career total to a BIG EAST record 274 league victories.
Kivlehan was the only unanimous selection to the 14-man All-BIG EAST First Team as he earned the selection at third base. Ten teams accounted for the 14 players on the first team, with Connecticut placing a league-high three players on the squad (relief pitcher Scott Oberg, second-baseman L.J. Mazzilli and outfielder Billy Ferriter). Amlung was Louisville’s lone selection to the first team, though the Cardinals had a league-high 10 players chosen to the three all-conference teams.
St. John’s outfielder Jeremy Baltz earned his third consecutive selection to the All-BIG EAST First Team, while Amlung was chosen to the first team for the second consecutive year.
2012 BIG EAST CONFERENCE BASEBALL AWARDS
BIG EAST PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Patrick Kivlehan, 3B, Rutgers (Jr., West Nyack, N.Y.)
BIG EAST PITCHER OF THE YEAR
Justin Amlung, RHP, Louisville (Jr., Louisville, Ky.)
BIG EAST ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Jared Ruxer, RHP, Louisville (Fr., Indianapolis, Ind.)
BIG EAST COACH OF THE YEAR
Ed Blankmeyer, St. John’s
ALL-BIG EAST FIRST TEAM |
|
|
|
|
Pos. |
Player |
School |
Cl |
Hometown |
P |
Justin Amlung |
Louisville |
Jr. |
Louisville, Ky. |
P |
Sean Hagan |
St. John’s |
Jr. |
Larchmont, N.Y. |
P |
Jon Prosinski |
Seton Hall |
Jr. |
Skillman, N.J. |
P |
Andrew Barbosa |
USF |
Sr. |
San Juan, P.R. |
RP |
Scott Oberg |
Connecticut |
Jr. |
Tewksbury, Mass. |
C |
Jeff Melillo |
Rutgers |
Sr. |
Annandale, N.J. |
1B |
Rick Devereaux |
Pittsburgh |
Sr. |
Oakdale, Pa. |
2B |
L.J. Mazzilli |
Connecticut |
Jr. |
Greenwich, Conn. |
3B |
Patrick Kivlehan * |
Rutgers |
Jr. |
West Nyack, N.Y. |
SS |
Mike Garza |
Georgetown |
Jr. |
San Antonio, Texas |
OF |
Justin Glass |
Cincinnati |
So. |
Fort Wayne, Ind. |
OF |
Billy Ferriter |
Connecticut |
Jr. |
Nashua, N.H. |
OF |
Jeremy Baltz |
St. John’s |
Jr. |
Vestal, N.Y. |
DH |
Matt Fleishman |
Villanova |
Sr. |
East Northport, N.Y. |
* unanimous selection |
||||
ALL-BIG EAST SECOND TEAM |
|
|
|
|
Pos. |
Player |
School |
Cl |
Hometown |
P |
Jeff Thompson |
Louisville |
So. |
Greenville, Ind. |
P |
Will Hudgins |
Notre Dame |
Sr. |
Richmond, Va. |
P |
Ryan Harvey |
Seton Hall |
Jr. |
Manalapan, N.J. |
P |
Derrick Stultz |
USF |
Sr. |
Tampa, Fla. |
RP |
Dan Slania |
Notre Dame |
So. |
Tucson, Ariz. |
C |
Joe Hudson |
Notre Dame |
Jr. |
Odessa, Fla. |
1B |
Stewart Ijames |
Louisville |
Sr. |
Owensboro, Ky. |
2B |
Tyler Sciacca |
Villanova |
Sr. |
Staten Island, N.Y. |
3B |
Eric Jagielo |
Notre Dame |
So. |
Downers Grove North, Ill. |
SS |
Matt Wessinger |
St. John’s |
Sr. |
Liverpool, N.Y. |
OF |
Adam Engel |
Louisville |
So. |
Loveland, Ohio |
OF |
Cole Sturgeon |
Louisville |
So. |
Owensboro, Ky. |
OF |
James Ramsay |
USF |
So. |
Brandon, Fla. |
DH |
Jeff Gardner |
Louisville |
So. |
Louisville, Ky. |
ALL-BIG EAST THIRD TEAM |
|
|
|
|
Pos. |
Player |
School |
Cl |
Hometown |
P |
Jared Ruxer |
Louisville |
Fr. |
Indianapolis, Ind. |
P |
Matt Iannazzo |
Pittsburgh |
Sr. |
Norwalk, Conn. |
P |
Rob Smorol |
Rutgers |
Jr. |
Clark, N.J. |
P |
Kyle Hansen |
St. John’s |
Jr. |
Glen Gove, N.Y. |
RP |
Derek Self |
Louisville |
Sr. |
Cave City, Ky. |
RP |
Benny Mejia |
Seton Hall |
Sr. |
Paterson, N.J. |
C |
Joe Pavone |
Connecticut |
Sr. |
Rochester, N.Y. |
1B |
Trey Mancini |
Notre Dame |
So. |
Winter Haven, Fla. |
2B |
Nick Ratajczak |
Louisville |
Jr. |
Joliet, Ill. |
3B |
Ty Young |
Louisville |
So. |
Coatesville, Pa |
SS |
Giuseppe Papaccio |
Seton Hall |
Jr. |
Belle Mead, N.J. |
OF |
Justin Leeson |
Georgetown |
Jr. |
Exton, Pa. |
OF |
Brian O’Grady |
Rutgers |
So. |
Warminster, Pa. |
OF |
Zach Granite |
Seton Hall |
So. |
Staten Island, N.Y. |
OF |
Bobby Boyd |
West Virginia |
Fr. |
Silver Spring, Md. |
DH |
Anthony DeFabio |
Pittsburgh |
Sr. |
Pittsburgh, Pa. |