NCBWA Names Rutledge Preseason All-American
Rutledge was named to the third team by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Samford sophomore pitcher Lex Rutledge has been named preseason third-team All-American by the National College Baseball Writers Association, the NCBWA announced on Wednesday.
Rutledge, who came to Samford from Tupelo, Miss., is coming off a stellar freshman season for the Bulldogs in 2010. Serving as the team's closer, Rutledge tied a Samford record with 11 saves. He also posted a record of 5-1 and an impressive 1.71 ERA in 47.1 innings of work. He also led the team in strikeouts with 65 on the season.
At the conclusion of the season, Rutledge was named second-team All-Conference in the Southern Conference. He was also named to the SoCon's All-Freshman team.
Rutledge spent the first part of the summer playing for the Harwich Mariners in the Cape Cod League, and then he went on to participate in the trials for the 2010 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team.
Rutledge was one of just two Southern Conference players on the All-America teams, and he was one of just three from the state of Alabama. Wofford catcher Mac Doyle was the only other SoCon representative on the team, making the third team. The other players from the state of Alabama were Troy shortstop Adam Bryant, who was named to the first team, and Alabama outfielder Taylor Dugas, who joined Rutledge on the third team.
Rutledge and the Bulldogs open the 2011 season on Feb. 18 when they play host to Western Illinois in the first game of a three-game series at Joe Lee Griffin Field. The first pitch for the season-opener is scheduled for 6 p.m.
2011 Preseason NCBWA All-America Team (2010 Stats)
First Team
Player School Class Avg. G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB-SBA
C Peter O'Brien, Bethune-Cookman, Jr. .384 57 203 51 78 13 0 20 56 18 40 0/3
1B Jordan Ribera, Fresno State, Sr. .343 63 251 65 86 20 2 27 69 24 35 1/1
2B *Zack MacPhee, Arizona State, Jr. .389 57 229 67 89 8 14 9 64 41 39 20/24
3B *Anthony Rendon, Rice, So. .394 63 226 83 89 12 1 26 85 65 22 14/18
SS Adam Bryant, Troy, Sr. .356 61 250 70 89 16 6 23 65 26 38 4/4
OF *Alex Dickerson, Indiana, So. .419 55 236 62 99 19 0 24 75 20 35 3/5
OF Jeremy Baltz, St. John's, So. .396 63 240 64 95 16 1 24 85 28 44 6/6
OF Jackie Bradley, Jr. South Carolina Jr. .368 67 242 56 89 12 1 13 60 41 37 7/10
DH *C.J. Cron, Utah, Jr. .431 49 197 55 85 16 0 20 81 17 23 0/0
UT Mike McGee, Florida State, Sr. .328 68 250 61 82 15 1 17 73 44 53 5/8
Pitching: 4-1, 2.96 ERA, 20pp, 1GS, 0CG, 13SV, 27IP, 13h, 10R, 9ER, 18BB, 33K
Pitchers
ERA W-L APP GS CG SV IP BB SO
SP ^Anthony Meo, Coastal Carolina, Jr. 2.61 13-3 18 16 0 0 96 34 94
SP ^Danny Hultzen, Virginia, So. 2.78 11-1 16 16 1 0 106.2 24 122
SP ^Cole Green, Texas, Jr. 2.74 11-2 17 16 4 0 111.2 27 75
SP Matt Purke, TCU So. 3.02 16-0 20 18 1 0 116.1 42 142
SP Gerrit Cole, UCLA Jr. 3.37 11-4 19 19 0 0 123 92 52 153
SP Noe Ramirez Cal State Fullerton, Jr. 2.54 12-1 16 14 1 0 106 19 119
RP John Stilson, Texas A&M, So. 0.80 9-1 33 0 0 10 79 23 114
RP Collin Cargill, Southern Miss, Sr. 1.75 4-2 27 0 0 9 46 11 36
RP Chris Dennis, Portland, Jr. 1.88 5-1 30 0 0 14 43 11 51
Second Team
Player School Class Avg. G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB-SBA
C Jeff Bandy, Arizona, Jr. .367 55 210 52 77 22 0 6 42 20 19 4/4
1B *Paul Hoilman, East Tenn. State, Jr. .421 60 235 79 99 24 2 25 84 51 41 1/1
2B Ryan Wright, Louisville, Jr. .366 57 238 57 87 17 2 15 77 19 23 9/10
3B Garrett Buechele, Oklahoma, Jr. .359 65 262 55 94 16 2 17 65 20 51 3/4
SS B.A. Vollmuth, Southern Miss, So. .386 60 236 72 91 17 2 20 76 43 51 4/6
OF Brian Barnett, Nevada Sr. .348 58 224 52 78 21 2 18 71 18 64 9/10
OF Brandon Meredith, San Diego St., Jr. .383 51 201 53 77 11 0 7 54 28 40 10/12
OF Jeff Schaus, Clemson, Sr. .320 70 284 69 91 14 2 15 87 32 26 9/13
DH Austin Maddox, Florida, So. .333 61 255 48 85 16 0 17 71 7 41 0/1
UT Andy Mee, Florida Atlantic, Jr. .378 61 262 58 99 17 5 8 55 20 35 4/5
Pitching: 1-2, 2.96ERA, 21App, 0GS, 0CG, 11SV, 24.1IP, 26h, 9R, 8ER, 12BB, 22K
Pitchers
ERA W-L APP GS CG SV IP BB SO
SP Taylor Jungmann, Texas, Jr. 2.02 8-3 17 17 1 0 120 41 129
SP ^Seth Maness, East Carolina, Sr. 4.17 10-3 17 5 1 1 101.1 16 90
SP ^Steven Maxwell, TCU, Sr. 2.70 11-2 18 18 0 0 103.1 34 93
SP Sonny Gray, Vanderbilt, Jr. 3.48 10-5 19 16 1 1 108.2 48 113
SP Tyler Anderson, Oregon, Jr. 2.98 7-5 17 16 1 0 102.2 33 105
RP Trever Vermeulen, So. Dakota St, Sr. 1.45 9-1 35 0 0 10 68.1 19 62
RP Matt Price, South Carolina, So. 2.26 5-1 31 0 0 10 55.2 19 83
RP Kevin McKague, Army, Sr. 1.33 0-0 17 0 0 13 20.1 7 26
Third Team (Ties in Voting)
Player School Class Avg. G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB-SBA
C Mac Doyle, Wofford Jr. .377 54 220 46 83 23 6 16 75 16 54 8/8
1B Mike Nemeth, Connecticut, Sr. 386 64 254 63 98 20 1 15 84 38 24 1/2
1B Preston Tucker, Florida, Jr. .331 64 245 50 81 17 2 11 49 43 29 8/8
2B Kevin Tokarski, Illinois State, Jr. .412 53 204 70 84 25 3 8 53 53 40 32/37
3B Jason Esposito, Vanderbilt, Jr. .359 66 262 65 94 25 1 12 64 34 35 31/35
3B Jacob Tanis, Mercer, Jr. .388 62 268 69 104 25 1 22 88 22 50 7/10
SS *Garrett Wittels, FIU, Jr. .413 56 242 47 100 21 2 2 60 22 19 4/5
OF *Nick Martini Kansas State, Jr. .416 59 231 49 96 17 4 4 59 41 21 19/24
OF Jason Coats, TCU, Jr. .361 67 274 68 99 23 4 13 69 20 57 8/10
OF Taylor Dugas, Alabama, Jr. .395 67 243 70 96 15 5 2 37 59 21 18/21
OF George Springer, Connecticut, Jr. .337 64 243 84 82 16 4 18 62 60 70 33/35
UT Nick Ramirez, Cal State Fullerton, So. .346 64 260 62 90 28 1 16 75 19 50 6/6
Pitching: 1-3, 3.50ERA, 27App, 1GS, 0CG, 11SV, 43.2IP, 41h, 17R, 17ER, 8BB, 38K
DH Victor Gomez, Marshall, Sr. .364 58 220 39 80 15 0 17 63 12 36 7/7
DH Chad Oberacker, Tennessee Tech, Sr. .452 56 239 67 108 29 5 6 70 34 23 14/18
Pitchers
ERA W-L APP GS CG SV IP BB SO
SP Kyle Winkler, TCU, So. 3.39 12-3 19 19 2 0 116.2 36 92
SP Drew Smyly, Arkansas, Jr. 2.80 9-1 18 14 2 0 103 36 114
SP Tim Kelley, Wichita State, Sr. 3.94 11-2 16 15 2 0 96 26 80
SP Todd McInnis, Southern Miss, Sr. 3.30 6-5 16 16 0 0 95.1 34 87
SP Nick Trapeano, Stony Brook, Jr. 2.44 8-4 14 14 7 0 99.2 29 106
SP Alex Panteliodis Florida, Jr. 3.51 11-3 18 16 0 0 100 23 82
RP James Allen, Kansas State, Jr. 2.28 5-1 28 0 0 9 47.1 14 42
RP Brian Hamilton, Charlotte, Sr. 2.07 4-0 24 0 0 2 31.1 5 40
RP Lex Rutledge, Samford, So. 1.71 5-1 33 0 0 11 47.1 19 65
* Conference Player of the Year; ^ Conference Pitcher of the Year