University of Minnesota Athletics
Two Gophers Named ABCA All-Mideast
6/17/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
The Minnesota baseball team had two players named to the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) All-Mideast Team, as Tom Buske (Apple Valley, Minn.) and Derek McCallum (Shoreview, Minn.) received the honors on Wednesday, June 17.
Minnesota, Ohio State, Ohio University and Indiana were the only four schools to have two players named to the ABCA All-Mideast Team.
McCallum, who was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the fourth round of the Major League Draft, was also named a First-Team All-American at second base by the ABCA. He has now received First-Team All-American honors from Baseball America, the ABCA, Rivals.com and the NCBWA (National College Baseball Writers Association). McCallum joined Indiana starter Eric Arnett as one of only two Big Ten players to receive ABCA First-Team All-America honors.
On the season, McCallum batted .409 with 57 runs, 95 hits, 17 doubles, 18 home runs, 86 RBI, a .741 slugging percentage and a .484 on-base percentage. He led the Big Ten in home runs, slugging percentage, RBI, hits and total bases, and was second in batting average, sixth in runs, second in on-base percentage and fourth in doubles.McCallum is currently second in the nation in RBI, fifth in the RBI per game (1.46), 29th in slugging percentage and tied for 19th in hits. He is first in the nation among second baseman in RBI.
This year, McCallum broke the Minnesota single-season record in RBI (previously held by Robb Quinlan at 84 in 1999) with 86. He also finished sixth on the Golden Gopher single-season list in batting average, fourth in hits, tied for third in home runs, was third in total bases and sixth in slugging percentage. His batting average was the highest in a single-season by a Minnesota player since 1994 and the home run total was the most since 1998.
McCallum was one of three players to be a unanimous First-Team All-Big Ten selection. He was also one of two players to be named to the Big Ten All-Tournament team and an NCAA Regional All-Tournament team. In postseason play (five Big Ten Tournament games and four NCAA Regional games), McCallum batted .457 (16-for-35) with 11 runs, five doubles, three home runs, 14 RBI, an .857 slugging percentage and a .545 on-base percentage.
Buske, who received Third-Team All-Big Ten honors and was drafted by the Florida Marlins in the 33rd round of the Major League Baseball Draft, joined Arnett, Alex Wimmers and Jake Hale as the four pitchers named First-Team All-Mideast.
Buske finished the year 9-4 with a 3.57 ERA, 75 strikeouts in 95.2 innings and a .223 opposing batting average. The nine wins were the most by a Golden Gopher pitcher since 2004 when Glen Perkins won nine games. Buske finished the season third in the Big Ten in opposing batting average, fourth in innings pitched, tied for fourth in wins and sixth in ERA. He is also 38th in the nation in hits per nine innings at 7.34.
He was named to the Big Ten All-Tournament team after throwing a complete game against Purdue in a 12-3 Minnesota victory on May 22. Buske finished his career 2-0 with a 2.30 ERA in two starts in Big Ten Tournament play. He also was the starter for the Golden Gophers in NCAA Regional openers against Cal State Fullerton (in 2007) and this year against Baylor. This year when he started against Baylor, he became the first Golden Gopher to start a pair of NCAA Regional openers since Perkins did so in 2003 and 04.
Buske finished his career with an 18-12 career record in 36 starts, and had a 4.17 ERA. This year, he finished with a 3.57 ERA, which was second on the team. In 2007, finished the season with a 3.43 ERA. In both 2007 and 2009, he had the best ERA by a Golden Gopher starter on the season.
