Jameson McCausland
Staff Writer
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- Aug 23, 2017
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As the #2 team in the country, it is no surprise that Texas had a strong showing when the Big 12 awards were announced earlier today. David Pierce was named the coach of the year after leading the Longhorns to the Big 12 title. It is the second time in his 5 years at Texas that Pierce has won the award. Future first round pick Ty Madden was also named the Big 12 pitcher of the year after putting together a 6-3 record with a 2.55 ERA.
The first, second and honorable mention Big 12 teams were also announced and were filled with Longhorns. 2B Mitchell Daly, RHP Tristan Stevens and DH Ivan Melendez were all first-team members, while 3B Cam Williams and CF Mike Antico were named to the second-team. C Silas Ardoin, SS Trey Faltine, LHP Pete Hansen, RF Douglas Hodo III, RHP Aaron Nixon, RHP Tanner Witt and 1B Zach Zubia all received honorable mention recognitions.
Here is a link to the full awards list and all-Big 12 teams: https://big12sports.com/news/2021/5/23/2021-all-big-12-baseball-awards-announced.aspx
A few notes and thoughts:
- David Pierce was an obvious choice for coach of the year. Most thought Texas would be a good team entering this season, but he has done an excellent job of pushing the right buttons to improve the team as the season progressed. The Longhorns are a completely different team than the one that started the season 0-3 in Arlington.
- Ty Madden was an easy choice for pitcher of the year. The Texas ace was far and away the best pitcher in the conference this year. If the Longhorns go far in the postseason, he will be a big reason why.
- The official press release from Texas mentioned an interesting statistic that caught my eye: "The four first-team honorees are the most since 2011 and the 13 total players recognized are the most since 2005." The Longhorns are a very balance team and have shown throughout the season they have a variety of guys who can beat you both on the mound and at the plate.
- It is also interesting to note that Texas had 3 players on the All-Freshman team (Nixon, Witt and Daly), which was tied for the most in the conference with TCU.
Texas will begin the Big 12 tournament on Wednesday at 4 PM against the winner of the Kansas/West Virginia play-in game (being played Tuesday evening). The double-elimination tournament will run through Sunday with the NCAA selection show on Monday.
