University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota Baseball Claims Three of Four Big Ten Awards
5/20/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Senior shortstop Scott Welch (Missoula, Mon), outfielder Sam Steidl (Alexandria, Minn.) Appert at second base and Perkins at starting pitcher all garnered First-Team All-Big Ten honors for the Golden Gophers. Minnesota also placed four players on Second-Team All-Big Ten in first baseman David Roach (Clearwater, Fla.), designated hitter Andy Hunter (West St. Paul, Minn.), starting pitcher C.J. Woodrow (Plymouth, Minn.) and relief pitcher Jeff Moen (Glenwood, Minn.). Senior outfielder Ben Pattee (Ukiah, Calif.) and starting pitcher Matt Loberg (Anoka, Minn.) claimed Third-Team All-Big Ten honors for the Golden Gophers.
Appert claimed Big Ten Player of the Year honors for the second season in a row. In 2002 he shared the award with Kennard Jones of Indiana and Bob Malek of Michigan State. Appert becomes only the second player in Big Ten history to win back-to-back Big Ten Player of the Year honors, joining current Cincinnati Reds great Barry Larkin who won the honor in 1984 and 1985 with Michigan. Appert finished the season in the Top-10 in 10 different Big Ten categories, including first in doubles (23), eighth in total bases (109), ninth in slugging percentage (.553), fifth in hits (74), fourth in walks (32), third in on-base percentage (.475), ninth in RBI (42) and fifth in stolen bases (15). He finished the regular season tied for the team lead in batting average, home runs, first in runs, first in RBI, first in doubles and first in stolen bases.
Appert is one of seven Minnesota players to win Big Ten Player of the Year. That list includes, Terry Steinbach (1983), Brent Gates (1991), Mark Merila (1994), Shane Gunderson (1995), Robb Quinlan (1999) and Jack Hannahan (2001). The Golden Gophers have now won the award four of the last five seasons.
Perkins became the third Golden Gopher player to win Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors, joining Dan Wilson (1988) and Mark Merila (1991). Perkins is the first Golden Gopher pitched to win Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors. Perkins was in the Top-10 in five different Big Ten categories. He tied for first in wins with nine, was second in ERA (2.75), second in strikeouts (101), fourth in opposing batting average (.248) and was second in innings pitched. Perkins also became the first pitched in Big Ten history to go 8-0 in the conference slate, winning all eight times he pitched in Big Ten play. He also became only the third Golden Gopher pitcher to strike out over 100 batters in a season joining Dave Winfield (1973) and Mike Diebolt (1997). Perkins joined Appert and Ohio State pitcher Scott Lewis as the only three unanimous selections to First-Team All-Conference.
Anderson is the first coach in Big Ten history to claim Conference Coach of the Year honors in back-to-back seasons. He has now won the honor in three of the last four seasons, after claiming it 2000 and 2002 as well. Anderson guided the Golden Gophers to their most Big Ten wins in school history, as they recorded 24 victories. That victory total was just one short of the record for most Big Ten wins in a season. Minnesota won the Big Ten regular season title by five games, the most by any team since the conference went to a non-divisional format in 1988.
Welch, who claims First-Team All-Big Ten honors for second year in a row, was seventh in the Big in doubles (18), ninth in hits (68) and tied for 10th in RBI (41). Steidl, who was Third-Team All-Big Ten in 2002, finished tied with Appert for fifth in the Big Ten in batting average at .376 and was second in hits with 77.
Redshirt freshman Andy Hunter (West St. Paul, Minn.) tied for 10th in the Big Ten with 41 RBI, but was second in RBI in conference play with 28 during the Big Ten slate. Roach batted .,316 with three home runs and 21 RBI. He also has a .995 fielding percentage on the season with only 2 errors in 416 chances this season. Woodrow was tied for fourth with seven wins on the season, and was also fourth in strikeouts at 68. Moen was second in the Big Ten in saves with eight, and first in conference play with seven. He also has allowed only three of 24 inherited runners to score on the season.
Loberg tied for ninth on the Big Ten list in wins with six on the season. He is currently 6-1, with a 4.26 ERA. Pattee, who claimed Third-Team honors for a second season in a row, had a school record 13 doubles in Big Ten play. He was also seventh in the conference in total bases and ninth in runs in conference play.
Overall, Minnesota placed 10 players on the three All-Big Ten teams, and won three of the four honors by claiming Big Ten Player of the Year, Freshman of the Year and Coach of the Year.
