2021 All-Big 12 Baseball Awards Announced
The 2021 All-Big 12 Baseball Awards have been announced.
Texas Tech’s Jace Jung was tabbed as the Big 12 Player of the Year, making him the fourth Red Raiders player since 2016 (including his brother, Josh, in 2019) to be named the Big 12 Player of the Year. Meanwhile Texas right-hander Ty Madden earned Pitcher of the Year, TCU’s Brayden Taylor earned Freshman of the Year and Oklahoma State’s Christian Encarnacion-Strand garnered Newcomer of the Year. Also, David Pierce collected his second Coach of the Year accolade.
The vote was completed by the league’s head coaches. Coaches are not permitted to vote for themselves or their own players.
Jung is currently leading the Big 12 in OPS (1.279), slugging percentage (.779), walks (45), RBIs (65) and home runs (20). He is the first freshman to lead the Big 12 in home runs since Nebraska’s Matt Hopper in 2000. Jung ranks in the top five nationally in RBIs, home runs, and slugging percentage.
In Austin, Ty Madden is 6-3 with a 2.55 earned run average in 13 appearances. Madden won the award for Texas for the first since Taylor Jungmann in 2011 and is the seventh Longhorn to earn the accolades. As for his head coach, David Pierce helped UT go 40-13 and 17-7 in Big 12 play. Texas won its ninth regular-season title and second under Pierce.
Meantime, TCU’s Brayden Taylor ranks in the top-10 in the Conference in six categories including being tied for eighth in stolen bases (11), eighth in plate appearances (232), 10th in on-base percentage (.435) and tied for 10th in RBIs (46). Taylor is the third Horned Frog to garner Freshman of the Year and the first since Luken Baker in 2016.
Big 12 regular-season champions TCU and Texas led the way with a combined 13 selections on the All-Big 12 First and Second Teams. The Horned Frogs had seven selections, while the Longhorns had six.
Next up, the 2021 Big 12 Tournament gets underway on Tuesday in Oklahoma City.
