University of Minnesota Athletics
Perkins and Appert Named Louisville Slugger All-Americans
5/30/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Perkins becomes the first Golden Gopher to claim Second-Team All- American honors or higher since Robb Quinlan earned Second-Team NCBWA honors in 1998. Coming into the NCAA Regionals, Perkins has won 10 straight games, with his only loss of the season coming in his first collegiate outing against Arizona on Feb. 23. Last week he broke the Minnesota single-season strikeout record and became only the ninth pitcher in Golden Gopher history to win 10 or more games in a season. The southpaw is 10-1, with a 2.77 ERA and 112 strikeouts this season.
Appert was named Third-Team for a second consecutive season, joining Quinlan who did so in 1998 and '99. This season, Appert became the first back-to-back Big Ten Player of the Year since Barry Larkin in 1984 and '85. He is currently 13th in the nation in doubles heading into the week. Appert is in the Minnesota career top-10 in hits (2nd), doubles (2nd), home runs (8th), total bases (2nd), runs scored (t-4th), RBI (5th), games played (t-2nd), at-bats (2nd) and walks (t- 5th). The second baseman heads into the NCAA Regionals batting .381 with four homers, 44 RBI, 51 runs, 15 stolen bases and has a .477 on-base percentage.
Minnesota is the second seed in the NCAA Regionals in Long Beach, Calif. The Golden Gophers will take on Washington in their first game of the tournament on Friday, May 30 at 5 p.m. (CT). The game will be telecast by Fox Sports Net North, broadcast by KCCO (950 AM) and webcast on gophersports.com
