Wendzel headlines baseball postseason All-Big 12 honors
OKLAHOMA CITY – Junior third baseman Davis Wendzel was named Co-Big 12 Player of the Year to headline a conference-high 12 Bears earning postseason All-Big 12 honors, the conference announced today.
Wendzel becomes the fifth Bear to win Player of the Year honors and first since Josh Ludy in 2012. He shares the honor with Texas Tech’s Josh Jung.
Wendzel led the Conference with a .385 batting average (60-of-156) and a .500 on-base percentage, while his slugging percentage of .647 ranked third in the league. The San Clemente, Calif., native’s .404 batting average (23-of-57) in conference-only action also led the league. He registered a total of 17 doubles and eight homers for 25 extra-base hits and 39 runs-batted-in. He also was even more impressive on the field, registering just one error in 89 chances.
The Bears led the Big 12 with six first team selections. Wendzel, Shea Langeliers and Kyle Hill were three of five unanimous first team honorees. Richard Cunningham, Andy Thomas and Nick Loftin were also named first team selections.
For the second-straight season, Langeliers was named a First Team All-Big 12 honoree. In 2019 he has started 38 games behind the plate and has rounded into form at the plate after missing 10 games early in the season with a broken hamate bone. He finished the regular season hitting 311 (50-for-161) with eight doubles, one triple and six home runs, tied for third-most on the team. Since returning to catching after his hamate bone surgery on March 13, he has thrown out 11-of-18 would-be basestealers, good for a 61.1 percent. He currently has not allowed a stolen base since March 30 at Kansas and he has caught all of the five base stealers that have attempted to steal since March 30. Overall on the year, the Keller, Texas, native has thrown out 12-of-22 would-be basestealers, good for 54.5 percent.
Kyle Hill, another unanimous selection, earned his first All-Big 12 postseason honor after not allowing a run all season, finishing with an impressive 0.00 ERA and a WHIP of 0.70 over 21 appearances and 27.1 innings pitched. The Corpus Christi, Texas, native finished with a 6-0 record and seven saves on the year. He contributed to half of the Bears’ Big 12 wins with a 3-0 record and four saves. Overall, he is a carrying a 30.2 scoreless inning streak dating back to last season.
Richard Cunningham was named to the first team after being a second team selection in 2018 and an honorable mention honoree in 2017. The center fielder batted .324 with 29 RBIs, five home runs, four triples and 10 doubles.
Andy Thomas, a second team honoree in 2018, was named to the first team for the first time in his career. The designated hitter in 2019, Thomas batted .342 with 25 RBIs, two home runs and 19 doubles, good for best in the conference and top 10 nationally.
Nick Loftin is a first team honoree in 2019 after being a 2018 second teamer and 2018 All-Freshman team selection. The Corpus Christi, Texas, native finished the regular season batting .332, with 38 RBIs, six home runs, 2 triples and 16 doubles on a team-high 69 hits.
The lone Bear on the second team was senior outfielder Cole Haring. The honor is the first of Haring’s career as he finished second on the team with a .343 batting average, while leading the team with 40 RBIs and nine home runs.
The Bears boasted five honorable mention selections, with four pitchers in Daniel Caruso, Paul Dickens, Jimmy Winston and Ryan Leckich, along with first baseman Chase Wehsener. It was the first Big 12 postseason honor for all five honorable mention selections.
Wehsener also represented the Bears on the All-Freshman team as a unanimous selection. Wehsener has played impressive defense at first base, not committing an error in 363 chances over 47 games, while also batting .303.