Indiana baseball's Devin Taylor was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year Tuesday, per release. Taylor joins Alex Dickerson and Sam Travis as the only Hoosiers in program history to receive the honor. In total, seven Indiana players in 2023 attained conference accolades.
Taylor was named to the All-Big Ten First Team, alongside sophomore left-handed pitcher Ryan Kraft. Taylor's .328 batting average, 1.146 on-base plus slugging, 16 home runs and 34 walks led all freshmen in the conference. Taylor's 16 homers rank third all-time by Big Ten freshmen –– three behind Indiana sophomore outfielder Carter Mathison's 19 in 2022.
Kraft's 2.51 earned run average across 19 outings led all pitchers in the Big Ten. The sophomore's 54⅓ innings pitched in relief is No. 9 in the country among relievers. Kraft did not allow an earned run in 32 consecutive innings this season, spanning 12 appearances.
Indiana sophomore first baseman Brock Tibbitts, senior shortstop Phillip Glasser and right-handed sophomore starter Luke Sinnard were named to the All-Big Ten Second Team. Tibbitts' .387 batting average and 64 runs batted in led the team in the regular season. Glasser's 45-game reached base streak tied the longest by a Hoosier since 2005.
Sinnard's 10-strikeout outing May 18 at Michigan State sent the sophomore into the tie for No. 5 on Indiana's single-season strikeout records. The sophomore was the only Big Ten pitcher to post multiple double-digit strikeout games this season. Sinnard has struck out 104 batters in 78⅓ innings. Indiana is 11-3 in contests where Sinnard started.
Sophomore third baseman Josh Pyne was the lone Hoosier selected to the All-Big Ten Third Team. In back-to-back years, Pyne has reached the 70-hit, 50-RBI mark. In Indiana's three-game sweep over Purdue May 12-14, Pyne totaled 12 RBIs. Pyne was named the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association National Player of the Week and Big Ten Player of the Week following Indiana's four-game stretch May 7-13.
Freshman second baseman Tyler Cerny joined Taylor on the All-Big Ten Freshman Team. Cerny became the sixth Indiana freshman all-time to reach 10 home runs. It marks the first time in program history two freshmen hit 10-plus home runs in the same year. To go along with Cerny's exceptional defense, the infielder's 57 hits are third among Big Ten freshmen.
Senior catcher Peter Serruto received Indiana's Big Ten Sportsmanship Award, given to one player from each team in the league. Serruto caught over 95 percent of innings in the final two months of the season, per release. The senior batted .309 in conference play, throwing out almost 40 percent of attempted base stealers.
No. 2-seeded Indiana's opening-round game in the Big Ten Tournament is against No. 7-seed Illinois at 3 p.m. EST Tuesday. As the Hoosiers begin postseason play, Sinnard and Taylor can climb higher in the single-season strikeout and home run charts, respectively. The winner of Indiana-Illinois will play No. 3-seed Iowa Thursday at Charles Schwab Field Omaha.
