Five Ducks Claim All-Pac-12 Honors
06/02/16 | Baseball
EUGENE, Ore. – Two Oregon players were named to the Pac-12 All-Conference First Team in a vote of the league's coaches, while three more claimed honorable mention honors. Starting pitcher Cole Irvin and closer Stephen Nogosek were named to the first team, while outfielders A.J. Balta, Jake Bennet and Austin Grebeck were honorable mention picks.
Nogosek, a junior from Roseville, Calif., earned a spot on the team after finishing a dominating season with a 1.11 ERA with 16 saves and a 2-2 record. The right-handed stopper, who also claimed Louisville Slugger Third-Team All-America honors, fanned 45 batters in 40.2 innings pitched while walking just 14 and holding hitters to a .177 batting average. Nogosek finished the regular season third in the country in saves, while tying for the Pac-12 lead. He also ranked first in the Pac-12 in games finished (27) and games in relief (29), as well as finishing third in appearances (29). His 16 saves rank third on the all-time single-season list at Oregon, while he also finished the year in the record books in games finished (fifth), lowest opponent batting average (sixth) and appearances (10th).
Irvin, a junior from Yorba Linda, Calif., finished the season with a 6-4 record and a 3.17 ERA. The Ducks' lefty fanned a team-high 93 batters in 105.0 inning pitched while walking just 16. Irvin finished the season among the Pac-12 pitching leaders in four separate categories. He ranked third in batters struck out and batters struck out looking (24), while finishing fourth in innings pitched and 10th in wins. Irvin also finished in the top 10 in Oregon's single-season record books in four categories. He tied for third in strikeouts, fifth in innings pitched, ninth in strikeouts looking and 10th in starts. Irvin was an honorable mention all-league pick as a freshman in 2013.
Balta, a sophomore from Valencia, Calif., batted .219 with nine home runs and 47 RBI. He led the Ducks in home runs, RBI, slugging percentage (.455), and extra-base hits (17) while ranking second in doubles (12). The Ducks' left fielder finished third in the Pac-12 in home runs and tied for second in RBI. Balta finished among the all-time single-season leaders in RBI (tied for third), triples (tied for seventh with 4) and multiple RBI games (second with 15).
Bennett, a junior from Forest Grove, Ore., led finished the season batting .312 with 25 RBI and just 18 strikeouts in 138 at-bats. He led the Ducks in batting and on-base percentage (.419), while finishing third in RBI and doubles (8).
Grebeck, a junior from Laguna Hills, Calif., started all 55 games in center field for the Ducks batting .250 with 1 home run and 15 RBI in the leadoff spot. He finished with a .396 on-base percentage and led the Pac-12 Conference in both runs scored (53) and walks (42). Grebeck set a new Oregon record in runs scored in a season while finishing third on the single-season all-time walks list.
Grebeck was also one of nine players named to the Pac-12 All-Defensive Team. The Ducks' center fielder threw at five runners on the bases during the season.
