University of Connecticut Athletics
Penders & Eight Huskies Earn 2010 BIG EAST Honors
5/25/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 25, 2010
CLEARWATER, Fla. - Head coach Jim Penders was named the 2010 BIG EAST Coach of the Year as announced by the conference on Tuesday night as part of the 2010 BIG EAST Baseball Championship Opening Ceremonies. Sophomore Matt Barnes earned All-BIG EAST First Team honors, while Mike Olt won the 2010 BIG EAST Baseball Home Run Derby.
Penders has led the Huskies to a program-best 43 wins so far this season, including a 22-game win streak, which tied for the second-best streak in the nation in 2010. Penders is now a two-time recipient of the award after earning the coaching honor in 2006.
In his seventh year as head coach for the Huskies, Penders earned his 200th career victory on March 6, 2010, and led UConn to its first national rankings since the 1979 season. Penders and the Huskies earned their way into the national polls by being tagged as the No. 25 team in the country according to Baseball America back on April 12. UConn has continued to stay in the national spotlight throughout the season and earned a spot in the BIG EAST Baseball Championship for the fifth time in the last six seasons.
As a sophomore, Barnes picked up his first postseason honor of his career. He was also named to the All-BIG EAST First Team after going 8-1 during the regular season for the Huskies. Barnes struck out a team-best 69 batters in 72 innings of work, while adding one complete game shutout in the Huskies' 14-0 win over Cincinnati on May 8. The right-handed pitcher threw for an ERA of 3.50 in 12 appearances and 11 starts on the hill for the Huskies. He is one of 13 all-time Huskies to record eight or more wins in a single season.
Four Huskies earned a spot on the All-BIG EAST Second Team led by juniors Elliot Glynn and Mike Nemeth. Sophomores George Springer and Kevin Vance were also named to the second team. Springer was a First Team member in 2009, marking his second straight year receiving a postseason award.
Glynn finished the regular season with a 7-2 record and a stellar 2.12 ERA in 12 starts. Glynn struck out 36 batters in 76.1 innings. Nemeth is leading the Huskies with a .389 batting average, 70 RBI and 84 hits in 2010. Nemeth currently holds the Huskies' single-season RBI record with 70 on the year and is just one hit away from tying UConn's single-season hits record of 85.
Springer is batting .305 on the year with a team-best 72 runs scored. He has also hit 17 homers this season.
Mike Olt led the Huskies on the All-BIG EAST Third Team as the junior was joined by Pierre LePage and Nick Ahmed.
Olt, who hit three home runs in the Huskies' game last Thursday to set a UConn single-season home run record (20), has added his name to the list of UConn baseball standouts throughout over a hundred years of UConn baseball.
The junior is currently second on UConn's all-time home runs list with 41. He is two behind UConn great Jason Grabowski, who hit 43 homers from 1995-97. Olt is also second among UConn's all-time RBI leaders with 167, three behind Brian Packin's 170 from 1997-2000.
Olt hit .320 in the regular season, while adding 74 hits, 59 runs scored and 10 doubles to go along with his team-best 20 home runs. Olt also won the 2010 BIG EAST Baseball Home Run Derby on Tuesday.
LePage is hitting .327 in 2010 with 49 RBI, 67 hits and 26 stolen bases. LePage has also only struck out twice this season and has been tagged as the toughest player to strike out in the nation according to NCAA statistics. Ahmed leads the Huskies with 32 stolen bases on the year as he is batting .310 on the year with 71 hits, 53 runs and 38 RBI.
No. 2 UConn will take on No. 7 Cincinnati on Wednesday, May 26 in the first round of the 2010 BIG EAST Baseball Championship. Game time for the Huskies and Bearcats is set for 1:00 p.m. at Bright House Field in Clearwater, Fla. For more information on the postseason tournament, log onto BIGEASTBaseball.com.
