Six Spartans Garner All-Big Ten Honors
5/24/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
EAST LANSING - A total of six Spartans earned All-Big Ten honors as the conference announced its all-league teams Tuesday (May 24) afternoon. Second baseman Dan Durkin and relief pitcher Dakota Mekkes both earned spots on the All-Big Ten first team, while first baseman Jordan Zimmerman and starting pitcher Cam Vieaux were named to the all-league second team. Brandon Hughes was voted to the third team and fellow outfielder Marty Bechina was selected to the all-freshman team.
"I think it shows we have a pretty deep team," said MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. "We played a lot of young guys. You could make an argument for any of our second and third team guys to be on the first team. I think it also speaks to depth of this league; there are a lot of good players. I'm really happy for our guys and our team."
Mekkes has been one of the league's most dominant arms in 2016. The redshirt sophomore leads the country in strikeouts per nine innings at 15.02 and hits allowed per nine innings at 3.88. The native of Jenison leads the Big Ten in ERA at 1.35 and strikeouts with 89, which respectively rank sixth and 59th in the country.
The 6-foot-7 right-hander is 3-1, has a team-high 25 appearances and picked up saves in six games. Mekkes has demonstrated the ability to extend his role beyond that of a typical closer, going at least two complete innings on 15 occasions.
Five of his six saves came in Big Ten games, including vs. Rutgers (two), Penn State, Purdue and Nebraska. He struck out a season-high 10 batters in 3.2 innings vs. Indiana on April 24. The following weekend, he held Michigan to two hits over four complete innings, while racking up nine Ks. His longest appearance came May 20 vs. Maryland, when he limited the Terps to one hit over six innings and earned the win in the Spartans' 4-3, 13-inning victory.
Mekkes has allowed just 23 hits and 10 runs in 53.1 innings. In 19 of his 25 appearances he has allowed opponents to no more than a hit.
Durkin became the Spartans' everyday second baseman early in the season and is one of just two players to have started every game in 2016. He leads all Big Ten second basemen with a .330 batting average, which is 13th best in the conference.
Durkin's career-best season includes 63 hits, six home runs and 31 RBIs.
Durkin began the season with hits in 15 of the first 17 games, including a career-best 11-game hitting streak. He went 3-for-4 with two RBIs in a win over Indiana on April 24 and again had three hits in a series-clinching win at Michigan on May 1.
The native of Tinley Park, Illinois, has 20 multi-hit games and six multi-RBI games.
"It's a tremendous honor for both Dan and Dakota," said Boss. "With Dakota coming in and redshirting his first year and getting himself to where he is now is a testament to how hard he has worked. Dan is the same way, he has platooned his first two years and finally got an opportunity to play and has done a nice job leading the team both on and off the field."
Zimmerman has led the Big Ten in batting average nearly all season and brings a league-best .386 mark into the conference tournament. In addition to having a conference-best batting average, which ranks 29th nationally, he is in the top of five in the Big Ten in several major offensive categories, including: second in on-base percentage (.475), third in slugging percentage (.604), fourth in hits (78), tied for fifth in runs scored (46), tied for sixth in home runs (8).
Zimmerman, a transfer from Mesa, Arizona, has been the Spartans' most consistent hitter in 2016, recording at least a hit in 47 of 52 games. He brings a 13-game hitting streak into Wednesday's Big Ten Tournament opener. Earlier this season, he put together a 21-game hitting streak, over which he hit .494 with 16 RBIs.
Against Oregon April 1, Zimmerman went 2-for-5 and won the game for MSU in the bottom of the 10th inning with a walk-off solo home run.
He leads the team with 34 RBIs and his 16 doubles are tied for first.
Vieaux, who has been the Spartans' No. 1 starter all season, ranks third in the Big Ten with a 2.41 ERA and is seventh in strikeouts with 76. The lefty won six of his first nine starts and had a sub-2.00 ERA prior to suffering an injury in late April. Eight of his 13 starts have been quality starts, going at least six innings and allowing three or fewer earned runs.
Vieaux, who hails from Novi, struck out a season-high 11 vs. Oregon. He tossed his first-career complete game shutout in a win at Purdue on April 15. Additionally, he picked up wins against Presbyterian, Butler, USF, Rutgers and Penn State.
In 78.1 innings, he is holding opponents to a .247 average and has yielded just 13 extra-base hits.
Hughes, an all-freshman team selection last season, made 49 starts this season. The switch-hitter carries a .316 batting average and his 31 RBIs rank second on the team. He also has a team-high 17 stolen bases, which is good for ninth in the league.
In Big Ten play, he tied for third in the league in runs scored with 20 and also recorded seven of his 11 doubles in the season vs. conference foes.
Hughes, a native of Sterling Heights, has eight multi-RBI games, second on the team only to Zimmerman.
Bechina has started all but one game as a rookie. The Chicago native is hitting .259 and ranks fifth on the team with 23 RBIs. His 10 doubles rank fourth among all Spartans.
Bechina was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week following the opening weekend of the season where he went 3-for-5 with four RBIs in his college debut and followed it up with a 4-for-5 performance the next day.
His best game in conference play came in a win over Nebraska where he went 4-for-4 with an RBI.
"Having Marty get a spot on the all-freshman team is good for him and his growth; he has a bright future here," said Boss.
Senior Justin Hovis was the Spartans' recipient of the Sportsmanship Award. The student-athletes chosen 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.
Hovis, the Spartans' third baseman, is having a career-best season with 24 RBIs and a .250 batting average.
Michigan State begins play in the Big Ten Tournament on Wednesday when it takes on Nebraska at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Matt Fiedler, Minnesota
PITCHER OF THE YEAR
Cody Sedlock, Illinois
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Chad Luensmann, Nebraska
COACH OF THE YEAR
JOHN ANDERSON, Minnesota
ALL-BIG TEN FIRST TEAM*
C â€" AUSTIN ATHMANN, Minnesota
1B â€" Scott Schreiber, Nebraska
2B â€" Dan Durkin, Michigan State
2B â€" Connor Schaefbauer, Minnesota
SS â€" Nick Roscetti, Iowa
3B â€" Nick Sergakis, Ohio State
OF â€" Joel Booker, Iowa
OF â€" CODY BRUDER, Michigan
OF â€" Ronnie Dawson, Ohio State
DH â€" MATT FIEDLER, Minnesota
SP â€" CODY SEDLOCK, Illinois
SP â€" Kyle Hart, Indiana
SP â€" Tanner Tully, Ohio State
RP â€" Dakota Mekkes, Michigan State
ALL-BIG TEN SECOND TEAM**
C â€" RJ Devish, Rutgers
1B â€" Jordan Zimmerman, Michigan State
SS â€" Steven Reveles, Nebraska
3B â€" Micah Coffey, Minnesota
OF â€" Dan Motl, Minnesota
OF â€" Ryan Boldt, Nebraska
OF â€" Greg Guers, Penn State
DH â€" Carmen Benedetti, Michigan
SP â€" Brett Adcock, Michigan
SP â€" Cam Vieaux, Michigan State
SP â€" Dalton Sawyer, Minnesota
RP â€" Chad Luensmann, Nebraska
ALL-BIG TEN THIRD TEAM*
C â€" Harris Wenson, Michigan
C â€" Jason Goldstein, Illinois
1B â€" Kyle Wood, Purdue
2B â€" Nick Dunn, Maryland
SS â€" Brian Wilhite, Indiana
3B â€" Jake Bivens, Michigan
OF â€" Craig Dedelow, Indiana
OF â€" Brandon Hughes, Michigan State
OF â€" Jake Meyers, Nebraska
DH â€" Ben Miller, Nebraska
SP â€" Taylor Bloom, Maryland
SP â€" Brian Shaffer, Maryland
SP â€" Howie Brey, Rutgers
RP â€" Jack Anderson, Penn State
ALL-BIG TEN FRESHMAN TEAM
C â€" Ryan Fineman, Indiana
1B â€" WILLIE BURGER, Penn State
2B â€" Nick Dunn, Maryland
SS â€" Riley Smith, Minnesota
3B â€" LUKE MILLER, Indiana
OF â€" Marty Costes, Maryland
OF â€" Marty Bechina, Michigan State
OF â€" Jawuan Harris, Rutgers
DH â€" Scotty Bradley, Indiana
SP â€" Cole Bellair, Illinois
SP â€" MATT WALDRON, Nebraska
SP â€" Justin Hagenman, Penn State
RP â€" CHAD LUENSMANN, Nebraska
SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD NOMINEES
J.D. Nielsen, Illinois
Austin Cangelosi, Indiana
Jimmy Frankos, Iowa
Anthony Papio, Maryland
Cody Bruder, Michigan
Justin Hovis, Michigan State
Conner Schaefbauer, Minnesota
Taylor Fish, Nebraska
Jake Stolley, Northwestern
Nick Sergakis, Ohio State
Alex Malinsky, Penn State
Kyle Johnson, Purdue
RJ Devish, Rutgers
Unanimous selections in ALL CAPS | *Additional honorees due to tie | ** Fewer honorees due to tie on first team
