Adley Rutschman Named Pac-12 Player Of The Year, May 30

SAN FRANCISCO – Oregon State junior catcher Adley Rutschman has been named the Pac-12 Conference’s Player of the Year, it was announced on Wednesday. Rutschman becomes the fifth different Beaver to be named the conference’s Player of the Year since the then-Pac-10 unified in 1999. He joins Jacoby Ellsbury (2005), Cole Gillespie (2006), Michael Conforto (2013 and 2014) and Nick Madrigal (2017). Rutschman was also named the league’s co-recipient of the Defensive Player of the Year honor, sharing it with Stanford’s Maverick Handley. Rutschman gives the Beavers four consecutive Defensive Player of the Year honors, with Logan Ice (2016), Nick Madrigal (2017) and Cadyn Grenier (2018) also being recognized. The Sherwood, Ore., native highlights a big day of recognition for the Beavers. He was also named All-Pac-12 First Team, and is joined by junior Jake Mulholland and redshirt sophomore Alex McGarry. Pitchers Brandon Eisert, Bryce Fehmel, Grant Gambrell and Mitchell Verburg were all named honorable mention all-league. Rutschman and Fehmel are on the Pac-12’s All-Defensive Team, while Andy Armstrong, Preston Jones and Beau Philip are All-Defensive Honorable Mention selections. Rutschman batted .419 for the Beavers during the regular season, posting a .580 on-base percentage, which leads the nation. He also leads the nation with 73 walks. Mulholland is among the Pac-12’s leaders with eight saves this season, and has a 3-2 record and 1.80 earned run average entering the start of NCAA Regional play. McGarry comes into Friday’s game with Cincinnati batting .291 with five doubles, eight home runs and 29 runs batted in. His eight home are second to Rutschman’s team-leading 17.  Eisert leads Oregon State with eight wins this season. He is 8-2 and sports a 2.03 ERA, striking out 74 in 62 innings of work. Fehmel is the nation’s active leader with 33 career victories. The right-handed senior is 7-3 with a 3.34 ERA in 15 starts this season. Defensively, he has committed just one error. Gambrell leads the Beavers with 76 strikeouts in 65 2/3 innings. He is 5-2 this season and has a 2.74 ERA. The junior has allowed just eight earned runs in his last seven starts. Verburg, meanwhile, has pitched in 16 games this season, all in relief, and is 1-0 with a 1.40 ERA. He has held opponents to a .165 batting average in 25 2/3 innings, striking out 38 to just seven walks. Both Jones and Armstrong have not committed errors this season. Jones has tallied 95 chances while Armstrong enters the postseason with 127 while playing second base, shortstop and third base. Philip, who has played in and started 42 games, has committed just four errors for a .970 fielding percentage.