Michigan State University Athletics
Dakota Mekkes Voted to the NCBWA All-America Team
6/15/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Michigan State relief pitcher Dakota Mekkes has been named to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association All-America Team, as announced by the organization on Wednesday, June 15. Mekkes was voted to the third team and becomes the 30th Spartan baseball player to earn All-America accolades.
Also a First-Team All-Big Ten selection, Mekkes struck out 96 batters in just 57.0 innings pitched, marking the most strikeouts by an MSU reliever in a single season and the fifth-highest single-season total in school history.
He ended the season as the NCAA leader in strikeouts per nine innings at 15.16 and hits allowed per nine innings at 4.11.
The 6-foot-7 right-hander finished the year 3-2 with a 1.74 ERA that led the Big Ten and ranked 12th in the country. Mekkes added seven saves and was voted the team's Robin Roberts Most Valuable Pitcher. The redshirt sophomore demonstrated the ability to extend his role beyond that of a typical closer, going at least two complete innings on 16 occasions.
Mekkes was the go-to relief pitcher out of the bullpen, as his team-high 28 appearances were the fifth most in a single season in school history. He held opposing batters to a Big-Ten best .142 batting average.
In 21 of his 28 appearances he held opponents to no more than one hit.
He picked up five saves in Big Ten regular season 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.
He earned his seventh save with 1.1 innings of work in a 4-3 win over Maryland in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament.
Mekkes was also voted to the 2016 Mideast ABCA/Rawlings All-Region Team as a first-team selection.
