May 22, 2012
CLEARWATER, Fla. – Five different Notre Dame players earned all-BIG EAST honors Tuesday in advance of the 2012 BIG EAST Baseball Championship at Bright House Field. Junior C Joe Hudson, sophomore RHP Dan Slania, senior RHP Will Hudgins and sophomore 3B Eric Jagielo each garnered second team accolades, while sophomore 1B Trey Mancini was named third team.
Hudson, a semifinalist for the 2012 Johnny Bench Award, is batting a team-best .340 with 13 doubles, one triple, six home runs and 36 RBI. He has a .516 slugging percentage and .442 on-base percentage. Hudson ranks fourth in the BIG EAST in on-base percentage, tied for ninth in batting average and ninth in slugging percentage. No BIG EAST everyday starting catcher has fewer passed balls and Hudson leads the BIG EAST in throwing out base runners (.383, 18 of 47). The Irish lead the BIG EAST in fewest opponent stolen bases (30) and fewest opponent stolen base attempts (53).
Slania leads the BIG EAST in saves (12), games finished (28), appearances (30) and relief appearances (30). He also owns a 3-0 record with a 2.05 ERA in 30.2 innings of work. Slania has struck out 36 and walked 12. His 12 saves and 30 appearances each rank tied for third in single-season Notre Dame history. Slania was even more dominant in league games. He went 2-0 with a 1.26 ERA and seven saves in 14.1 innings of work. In fact, Slania has a paltry 1.03 career ERA in BIG EAST action. His 2.20 career ERA is the best in school history for a pitcher with at least 60.0 innings pitched.
Hudgins has been extremely good in his first season as a starting pitcher. He is 4-3 with a 2.22 ERA – second-best in the BIG EAST. Hudgins has also fanned 85 and walked 20 in 89.1 innings of work. He ranks fifth in the BIG EAST in strikeouts (85), eighth in innings pitched (89.1), tied for second in fewest earned runs allowed (22) and seventh in opposing batting average (.237). Hudgins has pitched into the seventh inning in seven of his 14 starts. He has collected eight quality starts. Hudgins has allowed one earned run or less in nine of his last 13 outings and two earned runs or less in 11 of his 14 starts.
Jagielo is batting .316 with 15 doubles, 11 home runs and 41 RBI. He was the first Notre Dame sophomore with double-figure home runs since 2004 when Craig Cooper (10) and Matt Bransfield (12) accomplished the feat. Jagielo ranks among the top-10 in the BIG EAST in home runs (4th), slugging (7th) and total bases (5th). In BIG EAST games only, he ranks tied for third in home runs (five) and tied for eighth in walks (14). Jagielo has 20 multi-hit games third on the Irish, including eight three-hit affairs (leads Notre Dame). He also ranks second on Notre Dame in multi-RBI contests with 11, including a season-high five RBI in the victory over Georgetown on Apr. 20.
Mancini is hitting .307 with 43 runs scored, 10 doubles, 12 home runs and 44 RBI. He has recorded a .550 slugging percentage and .382 on-base percentage. Mancini and Jagielo is the first Notre Dame sophomore tandem with double-figure home runs since 2004 when Craig Cooper (10) and Matt Bransfield (12) accomplished the feat. He has 15 multi-hit games, including a four-hit affair and six three-hit games. Mancini also leads the Irish in multi-RBI contests with 15, including a trio of three RBI outings. He ranks tied for second in the BIG EAST in home runs (12), third in slugging percentage (.579), tied for sixth in RBI (44). In BIG EAST games only, Mancini ranks tied for third in home runs (five).
Notre Dame opens the 2012 BIG EAST Tournament at 1 p.m. Wednesday at Bright House Networks Field against St. John’s. In-game updates will be available on Twitter at @NDBaseball and Facebook at NDBaseball, and fans can listen to all the action locally on 103.1 FM and on the Internet at UND.com.
2012 BIG EAST CONFERENCE BASEBALL AWARDS
BIG EAST PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Patrick Kivlehan, 3B, Rutgers (Jr., West Nyack, N.Y.)
BIG EAST PITCHER OF THE YEAR
Justin Amlung, RHP, Louisville (Jr., Louisville, Ky.)
BIG EAST ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Jared Ruxer, RHP, Louisville (Fr., Indianapolis, Ind.)
BIG EAST COACH OF THE YEAR
Ed Blankmeyer, St. John’s
ALL-BIG EAST FIRST TEAM
| Pos. | Player | School | Cl | Hometown |
| P | Justin Amlung | Louisville | Jr. | Louisville, Ky. |
| P | Sean Hagan | St. John’s | Jr. | Larchmont, N.Y. |
| P | Jon Prosinski | Seton Hall | Jr. | Skillman, N.J. |
| P | Andrew Barbosa | USF | Sr. | San Juan, P.R. |
| RP | Scott Oberg | Connecticut | Jr. | Tewksbury, Mass. |
| C | Jeff Melillo | Rutgers | Sr. | Annandale, N.J. |
| 1B | Rick Devereaux | Pittsburgh | Sr. | Oakdale, Pa. |
| 2B | L.J. Mazzilli | Connecticut | Jr. | Greenwich, Conn. |
| 3B | Patrick Kivlehan * | Rutgers | Jr. | West Nyack, N.Y. |
| SS | Mike Garza | Georgetown | Jr. | San Antonio, Texas |
| OF | Justin Glass | Cincinnati | So. | Fort Wayne, Ind. |
| OF | Billy Ferriter | Connecticut | Jr. | Nashua, N.H. |
| OF | Jeremy Baltz | St. John’s | Jr. | Vestal, N.Y. |
| DH | Matt Fleishman | Villanova | Sr. | East Northport, N.Y. |
* unanimous selection
ALL-BIG EAST SECOND TEAM
| Pos. | Player | School | Cl | Hometown |
| P | Jeff Thompson | Louisville | So. | Greenville, Ind. |
| P | Will Hudgins | Notre Dame | Sr. | Richmond, Va. |
| P | Ryan Harvey | Seton Hall | Jr. | Manalapan, N.J. |
| P | Derrick Stultz | USF | Sr. | Tampa, Fla. |
| RP | Dan Slania | Notre Dame | So. | Tucson, Ariz. |
| C | Joe Hudson | Notre Dame | Jr. | Odessa, Fla. |
| 1B | Stewart Ijames | Louisville | Sr. | Owensboro, Ky. |
| 2B | Tyler Sciacca | Villanova | Sr. | Staten Island, N.Y. |
| 3B | Eric Jagielo | Notre Dame | So. | Downers Grove North, Ill. |
| SS | Matt Wessinger | St. John’s | Sr. | Liverpool, N.Y. |
| OF | Adam Engel | Louisville | So. | Loveland, Ohio |
| OF | Cole Sturgeon | Louisville | So. | Owensboro, Ky. |
| OF | James Ramsay | USF | So. | Brandon, Fla. |
| DH | Jeff Gardner | Louisville | So. | Louisville, Ky. |
ALL-BIG EAST THIRD TEAM
| Pos. | Player | School | Cl | Hometown |
| P | Jared Ruxer | Louisville | Fr. | Indianapolis, Ind. |
| P | Matt Iannazzo | Pittsburgh | Sr. | Norwalk, Conn. |
| P | Rob Smorol | Rutgers | Jr. | Clark, N.J. |
| P | Kyle Hansen | St. John’s | Jr. | Glen Gove, N.Y. |
| RP | Derek Self | Louisville | Sr. | Cave City, Ky. |
| RP | Benny Mejia | Seton Hall | Sr. | Paterson, N.J. |
| C | Joe Pavone | Connecticut | Sr. | Rochester, N.Y. |
| 1B | Trey Mancini | Notre Dame | So. | Winter Haven, Fla. |
| 2B | Nick Ratajczak | Louisville | Jr. | Joliet, Ill. |
| 3B | Ty Young | Louisville | So. | Coatesville, Pa |
| SS | Giuseppe Papaccio | Seton Hall | Jr. | Belle Mead, N.J. |
| OF | Justin Leeson | Georgetown | Jr. | Exton, Pa. |
| OF | Brian O’Grady | Rutgers | So. | Warminster, Pa. |
| OF | Zach Granite | Seton Hall | So. | Staten Island, N.Y. |
| OF | Bobby Boyd | West Virginia | Fr. | Silver Spring, Md. |
| DH | Anthony DeFabio | Pittsburgh | Sr. | Pittsburgh, Pa. |