University of Minnesota Athletics
Anderson Named Big Ten Coach of the Year
5/26/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
The Minnesota baseball team had seven players receive All-Big Ten honors, and John Anderson was named Big Ten Coach of the Year according to an announcement by the conference office on Tuesday, May 25.
Anderson was named Big Ten Coach of the Year for the sixth time in his career. He also collected the honors in 1982, 2000, 2002, 2003 and 2004. Anderson helped lead the Gophers to their fifth Big Ten regular-season title since 2000, and led them to their ninth first-place Big Ten regular season finish in his career (four in divisional play and five in non-divisional play). Minnesota sat at 6-7 in Big Ten play on May 1, but won nine of the next 10 games to claim the Big Ten regular-season title. Anderson has guided the Golden Gophers a second-place or better finish in Big Ten play in 22 of his 29 seasons at Minnesota.
Sophomore first baseman Nick O'Shea (Blaine, Minn.) was named First-Team All-Big Ten, while junior outfielder Michael Kvasnicka (Lakeville, Minn.) and junior starters Phil Isaksson (Eau Claire, Wis.) and Seth Rosin (Shoreview, Minn.) received second-team honors. Senior catcher Kyle Knudson (Maple Grove, Minn.), junior reliever Scott Matyas (North Prairie, Wis.) and freshman starting pitcher TJ Oakes (Jordan, Minn.) also collected Third-Team All-Big Ten accolades. Oakes was also named to the All-Freshmen team.
O'Shea is the first Golden Gopher first baseman to be named First-Team All-Big Ten since Andy Hunter claimed the honors in 2004, and joins Robb Quinlan (1998-99), Jeff Monson (1991), Paul Weinberg (1988), Gary Morgan (1971), Mike Walseth (1968-69), Dennis Zacho (1967) and Wayne Knapp (1959-61) as one of nine Golden Gophers to claim first-team accolades at first base.
He enters the Big Ten Tournament batting .342 with 13 home runs, 55 RBI and 39 runs. This season, O'Shea is tied for third in home runs (13), tied for third in total bases (133), tied for fourth in RBI (55), tied for seventh in doubles (17), seventh in hits (77) and tied for seventh in doubles (17). In conference play, O'Shea finished first in RBI (33), fourth in home run (7), fifth in total bases (67), eighth in slugging percentage (.670) and tied for 10th in doubles (8).
Rosin claimed Second-Team All-Big Ten honors for a second year in a row. It marked the first time since Glen Perkins claimed back-to-back First-Team All-Big Ten honors in 2003-04 that a Golden Gopher pitcher received All-Big Ten honors in consecutive years. Rosin was the first Minnesota pitcher to claim back-to-back Second-Team All-Big Ten honors since Dan McGrath did so in 1998-99.
He enters the Big Ten Tournament at 7-4 with a 4.74 ERA and has 82 strikeouts in 87.1 innings. Rosin is third in the Big Ten in strikeouts, fourth in opponent batting average (.255), tied for fifth in wins and tied for seventh in innings pitched. In conference play, Rosin finished second in strikeouts (49), tied for second in wins (5) and seventh innings pitched (52.2).
Kvasnicka also claimed Big Ten honors for the second years in a row. In 2009, Kvasnicka received Third-Team All-Big Ten accolades. He joined Matt Nohelty and Mike Mee as one of three Gopher outfielders to claim Second-Team honors or higher since 2004. Mike and Jay Kvasnicka joined Mike and Tom Mee as Minnesota son-father combos who were both named All-Conference.
He enters the Big Ten Tournament batting .346 with 44 runs, seven home runs and 45 RBI. Kvasnicka is currently tied for first in the Big Ten in doubles (21), is first in walks (42), seventh in on-base percentage (.454) and ninth in total bases (120). In conference play, he tied for second in walks (18), tied for third in runs scored (26), tied for fifth in doubles (9) and was fifth in on-base percentage (.462).
Isaksson claimed the first All-Big Ten honors of his career. It marked the first time since 2004 that Minnesota had two pitchers with second-team honors or better. The Golden Gophers were the only team to have a pair of betters named Second-Team All-Big Ten or higher.
Entering the Big Ten Tournament, Isaksson is 5-1 with a 3.50 ERA and 52 strikeouts in 74.2 innings. He is currently third in Big Ten opposing batting average (.239) and fifth in ERA (3.50). In conference play, Isaksson finished fifth in ERA (3.28), fourth in opponent batting average (.257) and 10th innings pitched (49.1).
Knudson joined Jeff DeSmidt and Jake Elder as one of three Golden Gopher catchers to be named All-Big Ten since 2004. He was the first Gopher catcher to be named Third-Team All-Big Ten since Jeremy Beaulieu did so in 2002.
Entering the Big Ten Tournament, Knudson is batting .332 with five home runs, 39 RBI and 16 doubles. He is tied for 10th in doubles, and finished the Big Ten seventh in total bases (62), tied for fifth in doubles (9), was tied for eighth in RBI (24), tied for eighth in home runs (5) and was 10th in slugging percentage (.646). He has also thrown out 13 of 31 runners this year, and caught 23 of 24 Big Ten games in which the Gophers led the conference with a 4.25 ERA.
Matyas claimed All-Big Ten honors for a second straight year. He was named Third-Team All-Big Ten in 2009. Over the last two years, Matyas has saved 21 of 23 games and has not given up a run in May over 13 appearances.
Entering the Big Ten Tournament, Matyas is 3-1 with six saves, a 2.63 ERA and 41 strikeouts in 27.1 innings pitched. He is fourth in the Big Ten in games finished (20), sixth in appearances (22) and seventh in saves (6). Matyas also tied for fifth in games finished (10), was eighth in saves (2) and eighth in appearances (11).
Oakes is the first Golden Gopher freshman starting pitcher to receive All-Big Ten honors since Glen Perkins did so in 2003. With Isaksson, Oakes and Rosin all claim All-Big Ten honors, Minnesota was the only team to put its entire weekend rotation on one of the three All-Big Ten teams. Oakes also claimed Big Ten All-Freshmen team honors.
Entering the Big Ten Tournament, Oakes is 4-3 with a 3.82 ERA and 49 strikeouts in 73.0 innings pitched. He is eight in the Big Ten in ERA, and finished conference play ninth in ERA.
Indiana's Alex Dickerson was name Big Ten Player of the year, Ohio State's Alex Wimmers was named Big Ten Pitcher of the Year and Michigan State's Ryan Jones was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
