Lincoln - A pair of Nebraska baseball players
earned Freshmen All-America honors from Collegiate Baseball on Wednesday, as left-handed
pitcher Kyle Kubat was one of 32 starting pitchers selected and Pat Kelly was
one of four second basemen honored nationally.
It marks the first time since
2005 that the Huskers have had a player earn freshman All-America honors, as
pitchers Johnny Dorn and Tony Watson were each picked by Collegiate Baseball
and Dorn was a first-team pick by Baseball America.
A 6-1 lefty from
Waterloo, Neb., Kubat ended the season as the Huskers' Friday-night starter and
was a third-team All-Big Ten selection. The Creighton Prep product was 5-1 with
a 2.63 ERA and struck out 31 batters with 19 walks over 51 1/3 innings. During
Big Ten play, he ranked third in the conference among all pitchers with a 1.57
ERA. Prior to making his first conference start on May 5 against Indiana, Kubat
worked 10.0 innings out of the bullpen during Big Ten play and gave up just one
run.
Kubat started his
first career conference game on the road at Indiana and worked a career-high
6.2 innings, while also striking out a career-high seven batters. He improved
to 4-0 on the season with a win against Minnesota on May 11, as he went 6.0
innings and gave up just three runs, all unearned, on six hits and one walk,
while striking out three. Kubat won his third straight conference start against
Michigan on May 17 with six strikeouts to help the Huskers clinch a spot at the
Big Ten Tournament.
Kelly made a quick
transition to college pitching and was one of the Huskers' top offensive
threats with a .313 average, eight home runs and 37 RBI's in 41 starts. He was
twice named Big Ten Freshman of the Week and was a third-team All-Big Ten
selection.
The Red Wing, Minn.,
native was third on the team with a .521 slugging percentage and his eight home
runs were the most homers by a freshman at Nebraska who played at Haymarket
Park and the most homers by a Husker freshman since 2000, when Matt Hopper hit
21 at Buck Beltzer Stadium. Kelly hit throughout the Husker lineup and produced
16 extra-base hits, including six doubles and two triples in addition to his eight
home runs.
Kelly came up with
clutch hits all season for NU, as he hit .367 with a runner on base and .364
with a runner in scoring position. He had 11 multi-hit games on the year,
including a pair of four-hit games. He drove in at least a pair of runners 11
times, including a career-high five RBI's against Penn State at the Big Ten
Tournament in a 12-3 win over the Nittany Lions.
