Four Wolverines Honored with All-Big Ten Awards
5/24/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 24, 2011
PARK RIDGE, Ill. -- The University of Michigan baseball team had three players named to All-Big Ten teams on Tuesday night (May 24). Sophomore outfielder Patrick Biondi (Woodhaven, Mich./Divine Child) and freshman outfielder Michael O'Neill (Powell, Ohio/Olentangy Liberty) were named to the second team, while junior pitcher Brandon Sinnery (Worcester, Mass./Worcester Academy) earned third team honors. O'Neill also was a unanimous pick to the Big Ten's All-Freshman team and redshirt senior Anthony Toth (Lorain, Ohio/St. Ignatius) was named Michigan's Sportsmanship Award honoree.
Biondi, who played all 54 games for the Maize and Blue with 53 starts, hit .286 with seven doubles, a triple and 21 runs batted in in his second year at U-M. He was second on both the team and in the Big Ten with 27 stolen bases and led the league with 17 in conference play. He also now has 56 stolen bases in his career, which is fourth in the U-M record book. Biondi led Michigan with 36 runs scored and now has 105 runs in his two-year career. He had seven outfield assists and a .988 fielding percentage in Big Ten contests and was second on the team with 25 walks while owning a .366 on-base percentage. The Woodhaven, Mich., native was 7-for-13 with two walks and five stolen bases in the Purdue series and had 27 hits in conference games. He two hits in five straight games from May 7-13 and was seventh in the Big Ten in both at-bats (217) and plate appearances (250).
O'Neill, the only Wolverine to start all 54 games this season, led U-M in batting average (.307), hits (67), triples (2) and stolen bases (30). The freshman was 30-for-38 in stolen-base attempts this year, which leads the league in both categories. O'Neill broke Biondi's program stolen-base record by a freshman in the final week of the season, passing Biondi's mark of 29 set in 2010. He had hits in 44 of the team's 54 games and started 2011 with a 17-game hitting streak. O'Neill showed off his strong arm to the tune of 10 outfield assists, which is tied for seventh in the country. He started the season hitting ninth but quickly rose to third in the order in the third game of the season and then hit leadoff the last three weeks of 2011. O'Neill had the game-winning home run in a 2-1 win over Iowa on April 23 and had a game-winning double in U-M's 7-6 win over Illinois on April 17. He had seven multi-stolen base games and was second on the team with 16 multi-hit games. O'Neill hit .314 with runners in scoring position, had a .356 on-base percentage, and slugged .390.
Sinnery is second in the Big Ten in opponent's batting average (.238) and is fourth in earned-run average (2.91) after appearing in 15 games with seven starts for the Maize and Blue. In Big Ten games only, Sinnery is second in ERA (2.22) and tied for seventh in strikeouts (36), allowing just six extra-base hits in conference contests. He also pitched back-to-back complete games in wins over Illinois on April 17 and Iowa on April 24, winning both games. His nine-strikeout, four-hit masterpiece against the Fighting Illini earned him Big Ten Pitcher of the Week on April 18. The right-hander went at least 6.1 innings in all six Big Ten starts and did not allow an earned run in his first 14.2 innings of conference games. Opponents hit just .214 off Sinnery with runners on base and .147 with two outs.
Toth, who played in 39 games before injury cut his season short, hit .292 with 24 doubles, four triples, a home run and 71 RBI in his Wolverine career. Toth helped Michigan to a 2007 Nashville Regional title and hit .313 and .309 in 2009 and 2010, respectively. He was named to the All-Big Ten Tournament team in 2010, starting all 57 games in the middle infield that season. He had 10 multi-hit games this season, driving in three runs in a win over Iowa on April 24 and had the game-winning double in the Winthorp win on March 12. Toth graduated in August of 2010 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in sport management from the School of Kinesiology. The student-athletes chosen for the Sportsmanship Award are individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. These student-athletes must also be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting.
In the individual awards, Michigan State's Jeff Holm was named Big Ten Player of the Year, while the Spartans' Kurt Wunderlich was named the conference's Pitcher of the Year. MSU's Jake Boss Jr., was named Coach of the Year and Ohio State's Josh Dezse earned Freshman of the Year honors.
ALL-BIG TEN FIRST TEAM
C -- Kevin Plawecki, PUR
1B -- Jeff Holm, MSU
2B -- Ryan Jones, MSU
SS -- AJ Pettersen, MINN
3B -- Torsten Boss, MSU
OF -- BRANDON ECKERLE, MSU
OF -- SEAN DEEGAN, PSU
OF -- Barrett Serrato, PUR
DH -- Alex Dickerson, IND
SP -- Joey DeNato, IND
SP -- Tony Bucciferro, MSU
SP -- Kurt Wunderlich, MSU
RP -- Scott Matyas, MINN
ALL-BIG TEN SECOND TEAM
C -- Adam Davis, ILL
1B -- Josh Dezse, OSU
2B -- Pete Cappetta, ILL
SS -- Josh Parr, ILL
3B -- Chris Lashmet, NU
OF -- Patrick Biondi, MICH
OF -- Michael O'Neill, MICH
OF -- Tyler Spillner, PUR
DH -- Paul Snieder, NU
SP -- Jared Hippen, IOWA
SP -- Drew Rucinski, OSU
SP -- Steven Hill, PSU
RP -- Nick Wittgren, PUR
ALL-BIG TEN THIRD TEAM*
C -- Tyson Blaser, IOWA
1B -- Nick O'Shea, MINN
2B -- Micah Johnson, IND
SS -- Trevor Stevens, NU
3B - Cameron Perkins, PUR
OF -- Willie Argo, ILL
OF -- Casey McMurray, ILL
OF -- Trevor Willis, IOWA
OF -- Stephen Talbott, PUR
DH -- Jared Hook, MSU
SP -- Brandon Sinnery, MICH
SP -- TJ Oakes, MINN
SP -- John Walter, PSU
RP -- Wes Braun, ILL
RP -- Tony Wieber, MSU
Unanimous honorees in ALL CAPS
* Additional honorees due to tie
ALL-BIG TEN FRESHMAN TEAM
C -- Joel Fisher, MSU
1B -- JOSH DEZSE, OSU
2B -- KYLE RUCHIM, NU
SS -- Thomas Lindauer, ILL
3B -- DUSTIN DeMUTH, IND
OF -- Taylor Zeutenhorst, IOWA
OF -- MICHAEL O'NEILL, MICH
OF -- Tim Wetzel, OSU
DH -- Jack Livingston, NU
SP -- JOEY DeNATO, IND
SP -- David Garner, MSU
SP -- GREG GREVE, OSU
RP -- Ryan Halstead, IND
SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD HONOREES
Josh Parr, ILL
Brian Lambert, IND
Tyson Blaser, IOWA
Anthony Toth, MICH
Brandon Eckerle, MSU
Kyle Geason, MINN
Matt Gailey, NU
Theron Minium, OSU
Bobby Jacobs, PSU
David Blount, PUR
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Jeff Holm, MSU
PITCHER OF THE YEAR
Kurt Wunderlich, MSU
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Josh Dezse, OSU
COACH OF THE YEAR
Jake Boss Jr., MSU
Contact: Kent Reichert (734) 763-4423
