University of Minnesota Athletics
2015 Baseball Roster
Michael Handel
- Class:
- Redshirt Senior
- Position:
- SS
- Hometown:
- Sun Prairie, Wis.
- High School:
- Sun Prairie
2015 · REDSHIRT SENIOR SEASON:
Garnered All-Big Ten Second Team honors · named the Gophers' Richard "Chief" Siebert Most Valuable Player · also Minnesota's Paul Molitor Batting Champion with a .328 season average · led the Gophers with a .469 slugging percentage, .380 on base percentage and five home runs · drove in 30 runs and scored 22 · batted a team-high .385 with 15 RBIs and .526 slugging during Big Ten play · played in 48 games over the season, making 45 starts at shortstop · conference batting average ranked sixth, and Big Ten slugging and on-base numbers ranked 15th · overall average ranked 15th in the conference at the end of the regular season · notched a team-high 18 multi-hit games and tied for the lead with seven multi-RBI games · put together a 17-game on-base streak (3/29-4/28) · converted all seven stolen base attempts. Game Highlights: Started the season going 2-for-4 with a run at Houston (2/13) · went 2-for-4 with a run scored at FGCU (2/27) and went 2-for-5 with a run and RBI two days later (3/1) · drove in four runs, including a three-run home run, at Creighton (3/7) · hit 2-for-4 with an RBI and run the next day (3/8) · batted 9-for-15 in the series at Rutgers (4/4-4/5) · went 3-for-5 and 4-for-5 in a doubleheader, with two RBIs in each game and two doubles in the second (4/4) · went 2-for-2 with a home run, double, two RBIs and two runs against Carelton (4/8) · hit 4-for-5 with a home run, double, and four RBIs in a win over Penn State (4/18) · homered against South Dakota State (4/22) · went 2-for-4 with two RBIs against Michigan (4/26) · batted 3-for-5 with a solo home run against Michigan State (4/15).
2014 · REDSHIRT JUNIOR SEASON:
Made 41 starts, 40 at shortstop · hit .261 (.345 on-base and .405 slugging) with 21 RBIs in 153 at-bats · hit for an average of .296 in Big Ten play · slugging percentage of .521 within Big Ten play ranked seventh · had 11 multi-hit games and five multi-RBI games · second on the team with three home runs and tied for second with 11 doubles · maintained a .940 fielding percentage in 184 chances · went 3-for-4 with an RBI and a walk in the series opener vs. Creighton (2/21) · had two hits and a run scored at Sacramento State (3/15) · had two games with four RBIs: went 3-for-5 at St. Mary's (3/18) and hit a grand slam vs. Northwestern (3/22) · homered at Michigan (4/5) · went 4-for-5 with a double against Nebraska (4/11) · hit a home run at Iowa (4/18), and hit 3-for-5 with three doubles in the next game (4/19) · named Big Ten Player of the Week (4/13-20) after hitting 6-for-13 with six RBIs, a home run and four doubles against NDSU?and Iowa · was 3-for-5 with two RBIs in a win over Penn State (4/26) · hit 2-for-4 with an RBI double against Michigan in the Big Ten Tournament (5/21).
2013 · SOPHOMORE SEASON:
Played in 52 games, starting all but one · started all of those 51 games at shortstop · batted .245 in 192 at bats with a .673 OPS · set career highs in at bats (192), hits (47), runs (27), RBI (20), doubles (6), triples (2), HR (3), walks (20), and stolen bases (9) · held a .941 fielding percentage at shortstop and lead the team in fielding assists with 168 · 9-10 in stolen base attempts · led the team in stolen bases (9) and stolen base % (.900) for those over 10 attempts · second on the team in runs scored (27), at-bats (192), and walks (20) · led the team in home runs (3) · had 12 multiple hit games and seven multiple RBI games · reached base in the first 10 games of the season (2/15-3/2) including a five game hit streak (2/23-3/2) · in the season opener, went 3-5 with a double, two runs, and two RBI against UCLA (2/15) · set a single game career high with three runs against Nebraska-Omaha (3/13), while going 3-5 with two RBI and a home run · reached base four times against Texas (3/23) · had a season high three RBI in the North Dakota St. game (4/24) · went 4/13 (.308) with three runs, two RBI, 2 BB, and 2 HBP in the series against Iowa (4/26-28) · had a career high three walks in the Milwaukee game (5/8) · had an RBI single against Illinois in an elimination game of the Big Ten Tournament.
2012 · FRESHMAN SEASON:
All-Big Ten Freshman Team · played in 49 games, including 45 as a starter · started in 35 straight games until he suffered a shoulder injury · moved from shortstop to second for the remainder of the season · as a starting infielder, held a fielding percentage of .970 with 67 putouts and ranked second on the team with 126 assists · batted .265 in 155 at bats and 12 RBI · produced two home runs, one triple, three doubles and 52 total bases · tied a team-high 18 walks and eight steals · had 11 multiple-hit games · made his collegiate debut and earned his first collegiate hit in the 7-3 win against Louisville (2/17) · hit a home run and went 2-4 with a run scored against Nebraska (3/4) · went 5-11 in the Cal Poly series when he had two multiple-hit games (3/17-19) · went 2-3 in the 3-0 win over The Citadel (3/24) · held a career-high game when he went 4-4 with four stolen bases, a walk and three runs scored against South Dakota State (3/28) · was 4-11 in the Michigan series (3/30-4/1) · went 2-5 in the 4-3 Iowa win (4/29) · hit his second home run of the season in the home series finale win over Penn State (5/6).
2011:
Red-shirted the season.
HIGH SCHOOL:
Graduated from Sun Prairie High School · was coached by Rob Hamilton and Peter Gumina · named All-State and All-Area in 2009 and 2010, and received First-Team All-Conference honors in the same years and second-team honors in 2008 · four-year letterwinner in baseball and was a three-year letterwinner in basketball · helped lead his team to a conference title in his senior season, as he batted .429 with 27 runs, 17 stolen bases, nine doubles and 25 RBI in his senior season · also played in the 2008 & 2009 World Wood Bat National Tournament in Georgia and Jupiter, Fla.
PERSONAL:
Business and Marketing Education major · son of Randy and Kathy Handel · his dad was a former college teammate of Minnesota Assistant Head Coach Rob Fornasiere at Wisconsin-La Crosse · lists his biggest sports thrill as playing at Wrigley Field · born on July 24, 1991.
CAREER STATISTICS
| Year | GP | GS | Avg | AB | R | H | RBI | 2B | 3B | HR | SLG | BB | SO | SB | SBA |
| 2012 | 49 | 45 | .265 | 155 | 15 | 41 | 12 | 3 | 1 | 2 | .335 | 18 | 26 | 8 | 12 |
| 2013 | 52 | 51 | .245 | 192 | 27 | 47 | 20 | 6 | 2 | 3 | .244 | 20 | 31 | 9 | 10 |
| 2014 | 44 | 41 | .261 | 153 | 15 | 40 | 21 | 11 | 1 | 3 | .405 | 18 | 20 | 2 | 4 |
| 2015 | 48 | 45 | .328 | 177 | 22 | 58 | 30 | 8 | 1 | 5 | .469 | 13 | 35 | 7 | 7 |
| Total | 193 | 182 | .275 | 677 | 79 | 186 | 93 | 28 | 5 | 13 | .388 | 69 | 112 | 26 | 33 |
BIG TEN STATISTICS
| Year | GP | GS | Avg | AB | R | H | RBI | 2B | 3B | HR | SLG | BB | SO | SB | SBA |
| 2012 | 20 | 16 | .270 | 63 | 5 | 17 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .333 | 4 | 13 | 1 | 1 |
| 2013 | 19 | 19 | .192 | 73 | 11 | 14 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .233 | 7 | 13 | 2 | 2 |
| 2014 | 20 | 17 | .296 | 71 | 8 | 21 | 13 | 7 | 0 | 3 | .521 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 1 |
| 2015 | 22 | 19 | .385 | 78 | 7 | 30 | 15 | 5 | 0 | 2 | .526 | 4 | 18 | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 81 | 71 | .288 | 285 | 31 | 82 | 40 | 14 | 1 | 6 | .407 | 19 | 49 | 5 | 5 |
