Three Spartans Earn ABCA/Rawlings All-Region Accolades

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Three Michigan State players were named to the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Rawlings NCAA Div. I All-Midwest Region.

Junior first baseball Brock Vradenburg was named to the First-Team All-Midwest Region list, while senior pitcher Wyatt Rush and junior infielder Trent Farquhar garnered Second-Team All-Midwest Region recognition.

The three Spartans honored with All-Region honors is the most since four in 2011. Vradenburg is the first MSU player to earn First-Team All-Midwest Region honors since Dakota Mekkes in 2016 and the fifth total Spartan honored on the first team since 2002.

Rush and Farquhar's honors mark the second-straight season a Spartan has earned Second-Team All-Region honors after infielder Mitch Jebb was named a Second-Team All-Region honoree in 2022. With Rush and Farquhar's accolades, MSU has had nine second-team selections since 2002.

This recent honor adds to Vradenburg's award collection, as he was named the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) District 5 Player of the Year last week, becoming the first Spartan baseball player to earn the NCBWA District Player of the Year honor in the 25 years that the award has been presented.

Vradenburg was also named to the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-America® First-Team baseball team. Along with garnering CSC Academic All-America® accolades, Vradenburg was also named a Third-Team Collegiate Baseball All-American, becoming only the second MSU Baseball student-athlete to earn both Athletic and Academic All-American Honors in the same season. He is the first since 1974 when Dale Frietch also earned Third-Team Athletic All-American accolades and First-Team Academic All-American honors.

The Spartan first baseman's award collection also includes being named a semifinalist for the USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award and the USBWA Dick Howser Trophy.

Vradenburg was the Spartans' starting first baseman for all 55 games, and led MSU while ranking second in the B1G and 24th in the NCAA in batting average exactly a .400 average, becoming the first Spartan to hit .400 or better since 2002 and becoming the 28th member of MSU's ".400 Club." The Spartan first baseman is the first member of the club since 2002 when Brady Burrill (.414), Chris McCuiston (.404) and Bob Malek (.402) all hit over .400.

Vradenburg earned Big Ten All-Tournament Team accolades, after he led all first basemen in the tournament with a .455 average, going 5-for-11, with one double, finishing with six total bases and three RBI, posting a .545 slugging percentage and added two walks for a .571 on-base percentage.

He also ranked fourth in the league and 34th in the nation in total bases (155). Vradenburg was also third in the B1G and 30th in the NCAA in RBI (69), while ranking second in the league and 41st in the country in RBI/game (1.26). He also was fifth in the B1G and 86th in the NCAA in runs (62), just ahead of teammate Trent Farquhar (59). Vradenburg also led the B1G and ranked 24th in the NCAA in doubles (22), along with second in the league and 34th in the nation in doubles per game (0.40). The 22 doubles tied MSU's single-season doubles record, tying Blaise Salter (2014) & Chris McCuiston (2002) for the top spot.

With the 69 RBI, Vradenburg is ranked No. 2 on MSU's single-season RBI list, while the 13 HR ranks tied for eighth on the Spartans' single-season HR list, and the 86 hits ranks seventh on MSU's single-season hits list.

Vradenburg had a season-long and MSU season-best 41-game on-base streak (March 4 - May 16), which came after a seven-game streak to open the season was halted and finished with a five-game streak after the 41-game streak came to an end, finishing with reaching base in 53 of the 55 games, only not reaching base vs. Charleston (March 3) and Indiana (May 18).

Vradenburg was also sixth in the B1G in triples with four, ranking 70th in the nation and also third on the team, trailing teammates Mitch Jebb (7) and Casey Mayes (5), and just ahead of teammates Sam Busch and Dillon Kark (3).

Rush, a local product out of Grand Ledge, Mich., earned Second-Team All-Big Ten honors this season, after finishing third in the B1G and tied for 19th in the NCAA in saves with 10. The Spartan closer led the MSU pitching staff by posting a 5-0 record with a 3.61 ERA, with 43 strikeouts in 26 appearances.

One of Rush's gutsiest performances came in the B1G Tournament, when he came on in the fifth inning in the elimination game against Rutgers and finished the game, earning the win in the 6-4 Victory for MSU. As the Spartans' closer, Rush had only pitched more than 2.0 IP in five of his 25 previous appearances this season. He came on in the fifth inning with the bases loaded and one out, and after yielding a sacrifice fly, rang up a strikeout to end the Scarlet Knights' rally and keep MSU within one at 4-3. Rush went on to finish the game, going a career-high 4.2 IP with four Ks, spraying three hits and walking one while not allowing any runs in facing a career-high 19 batters, earning the win to improve to 5-0 on the season. It was Rush's second-straight outing without allowing a run and his 16th overall outing of the season without a run.

With the 10 saves, Rush becomes just the fourth Spartan pitcher to finish with double-digit saves, finishing fourth on MSU's single-season saves list, as well as tied for No 12 on the single-season pitching appearances list. Rush ended his Spartan career with 12 saves, good for tied for No. 5 on MSU's career saves list.

Farquhar, a native of Highland, Mich., also collected Second-Team All-Big Ten accolades. He started all 55 games, with 50 at second base and five at shortstop, while leading MSU and ranking sixth in the B1G with 139 assists, logging 105 putouts in 247 chances for a .988 fielding percentage. He was a part of 23 fielding double plays, ranking tied for 23rd in the B1G.

At the plate, Farquhar ranked eighth in B1G in toughest to strikeout (8.2 AB per K), with just 26 strikeouts in 213 ABs. Farquhar was also fifth in the B1G and 114th in the NCAA in on-base percentage (.467), in addition to ranking 10th in the league in batting average (.343). He also ranked sixth in the B1G and 70th in the NCAA in doubles (19), along with sixth in the league and 117th in the nation in doubles per game (0.35). Additionally, he ranked 10th in the conference and 124th in the country in runs (59), just behind teammate Brock Vradenburg (62), and also ranked 10th in the league and 135th in the nation in runs per game (1.07). The Spartan second baseman was also 11th in the conference in hits (73) and tied for 19th in hit by pitch (11).

Michigan State concluded the 2023 season with a 33-22 record, finishing eighth in the Big Ten Conference with a 12-12 league mark and qualifying for the B1G Tournament in Omaha, where the Spartans finished sixth. MSU's 33 wins are its most since 36 in 2016.

Players Mentioned

Sam Busch

Trent Farquhar

Mitch Jebb

Dillon Kark

Casey Mayes

Wyatt Rush

Brock Vradenburg

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