MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - Nathan Malinovsky of Texas Lutheran University was named Rookie of the Year by D3baseball.com on Thursday. He landed on the third team and joined Trinity University's Jeremy Wolf who earned first team All-America honors and Teddy Turner who was an honorable mention. Full Release
Malinovsky, a freshman pitcher from New Braunfels, Texas, became the first player in SCAC history to earn both SCAC Pitcher-of-the-Year and Freshman-of-the-Year in the same season. He posted a league-best 1.97 ERA and .215 opposing batting average, and was also top five in the league in strikeouts (58) and wins (9). In addition to his first team All-SCAC nod, he also earned a spot on the SCAC All-Tournament team and was first team All-West Region by D3baseball.com and the American Baseball Coaches Association.
Wolf, a senior outfielder from Scottsdale, Ariz., added another award to his name with the ABCA/Rawlings West Region Player of the Year which joins an SCAC Player of the Year nod and the D3baseball.com All-West Region Player of the Year. Wolf led the Tigers to their fourth consecutive SCAC tournament title and the programs second consecutive World Series berth. Wolf leads the league in slugging percentage (.780), hits (77), RBI's (64), home runs (11) and total bases (142). He is second in the league in batting average (.423), OBP (.516) and runs (56). Wolf was named the West Regional Tournament MVP for the second consecutive year and set the single-season SCAC doubles record with 28, a record that had held for 13 years.
Turner, a senior pitcher from Houston, Texas, earned first team All-SCAC honors and an All-West Region nod after posting top five numbers in ERA (2.79), opposing batting average (.219), strikeouts (55) and wins (7). Turner earned a spot on the West Regional All-Tournament team after striking out ten without allowing an earned run during his appearance.
The D3baseball.com All-America team is in its tenth year and had more than 800 players nominated.