Kubitza Named C-USA Baseball's Freshman of the Year
5/24/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 24, 2011
PEARL, Miss. - On the eve of the 2011 Conference USA Baseball Championship to be held in Pearl, Mississippi, Rice's Austin Kubitza has been selected as the C-USA Freshman of the Year to headline a list of five Owl baseball award winners announced by the league office on Tuesday (May 24).
A total of five Owl players were recognized for their success on the diamond the day before taking the field in C-USA's annual week-long championship tournament. All the award winners, including Kubitza with one of the top honors the league can bestow, were selected on a vote of the league's head coaches, sports information directors and a media representative from each city. Rice's Anthony Rendon (DH/Util.)and Michael Ratterree (Inf.) joined Kubitza (P) on the C-USA first team while Kubitza, Shane Hoelscher and John Simms were named to the league's all-freshman squad.
Kubitza is a true freshman who has emerged as Rice's weekend series-opening pitcher all season long. The right-hander from Colleyville, Tex., ranks among the C-USA leaders in ERA (1.85) and strikeouts (90). He averages 9.2 strikeouts per 9.0 innings and has held all hitters to a composite .240 batting average. Kubitza has twice been named the C-USA Pitcher of the Week this year, including a solid performance last week against on the road at Southern Miss that helped Rice move into a tie for first place in the C-USA standings. He also registered a dominating complete game shutout against No. 5 Texas A&M (March 7).
Michael Ratterree earned first team all-conference after finishing among the league leaders in RBI (49), at bats (227) and defensive assists (161) from his every day spot at second base. Ratterree hit .322 in all games and an eye-opening .380 against C-USA competition. The Houston native from Memorial High School batted .348 with runners on base and .369 with runners in scoring position. Earlier in the year he maintained a 19-game hitting streak. Ratterree enters the conference tournament with 18 multi-hit and 14 multi-RBI games.
No stranger to postseason accolades, Rendon has patiently produced at the plate despite not seeing very many good pitches game-to-game. Rendon is batting .323 overall and leads the country with 76 walks for one of the highest on-base averages in the country (.526). Has more intentional walks (22 times), than many players have total walks. The Houston native from Lamar High School has scored 53 runs in the team's 56 games played to go along with 17 doubles and five home runs for a .516 slugging percentage. He's also stolen a team-high 11 basesand driven-in 33 runs.
When Rendon was sidelined from his projected spot at third base, freshman Shane Hoelscher stepped-in defensively and has been sound and solid. Hoelscher worked his way into starting 51 of the team's 56 games, including 46 starts at third base. The rookie has batted .292 and is third on the team with 12 doubles and three home runs for a .405 slugging percentage that is third on the team. The Belton, Tex., native leads the Owls with seven sacrifice flys and has been a smooth fielder at the hot corner. Hoelscher has turned or started nine double plays from third base.
Freshman pitcher John Simms is another one of the Owls' talented young players who has helped the team earn the No. 1 seed at the upcoming C-USA Tournament. Simms was the Owls' starting pitcher on Opening Day vs. nationally-ranked Stanford and has been a weekend starter for C-USA games. In addition to a 3-2 record and 3.45 ERA, the right-hander from College Park High School in The Woodlands, Tex., averages 9.2 strikeouts per 9.0 innings. He was named the National pitcher of the Week for an 11 strikeout performance in 7.0 shutout innings against nationally-ranked Texas A&M (April 18).
The Rice baseball team is 38-18 overall and a co-champion in the final C-USA regular season standings with a 16-8 league record. The Owls next play on May 25 at the 2011 Conference USA Championship in Pearl, Miss. The Blue & Gray meet UAB at 12:30 pm at Trustmark Park, the minor league home of the Atlanta Braves' AA affiliate. Pool play continues in the tournament for Rice with 12:30 pm games against Memphis on May 26 and UCF on May 27.
2011 CONFERENCE USA BASEBALL AWARDS
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Chad Zurcher, Jr., IF, Memphis
PITCHER OF THE YEAR
Todd McInnis, Sr., RHP, Southern Miss
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Austin Kubitza, Fr., RHP, Rice
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR
Dillon Napoleon, Jr., RHP, UAB
KEITH LeCLAIR COACH OF THE YEAR
Scott Berry, Southern Miss
FIRST TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE
IF Jonathan Griffin, Sr., UCF
IF Michael Ratterree, So., Rice
IF B.A. Vollmuth, Jr., Southern Miss
IF Chad Zurcher, Jr., Memphis
OF Jamal Austin, Jr., UAB
OF Marc Bourgeois, Sr., Southern Miss
OF Tyler Koelling, Sr., Southern Miss
C Jeremy Schaeffer, Jr., Tulane
DH/UT Anthony Rendon, Jr., Rice
P Austin Kubitza, Fr., Rice
P Seth Maness, Sr., East Carolina
P Todd McInnis, Sr., Southern Miss
P Geoffrey Thomas, So., Southern Miss
RP Nick Pepitone, Jr., Tulane
SECOND TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE
IF Nick Crawford, Sr., UAB
IF Adam Doleac, Sr., Southern Miss
IF T.J. Rich, Jr., Memphis
IF Kenny Socorro, Sr., Marshall
OF Drew Martinez, Jr. Memphis
OF Caleb Ramsey, Sr., Houston
OF Trent Whitehead, Sr., East Carolina
C Zach Wright, Jr., East Carolina
DH/UT D.J. Hicks, So., UCF
P Kevin Brandt, Jr., East Carolina
P Brad Mincey, Sr., East Carolina
P Dillon Napoleon, Jr., UAB
P Ryan Woolley, Sr., UAB
RP Collin Cargill, Jr., Southern Miss
ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM
C Jared Bales, Southern Miss
SS Jack Reinheimer, East Carolina
3B Shane Hoelscher, Rice
OF Ben Fultz, East Carolina
OF Landon Appling, Houston
DH Chase McDonald, East Carolina
P Aaron Blair, Marshall
P Austin Kubitza, Rice
P John Simms, Rice
P Alex Facundus, Tulane
P Ben Lively, UCF
