MORGANTOWN, W.V. (June 13, 2012) -- Baylor seniors Josh Ludy and Trent Blank were named All-Americans by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association on Wednesday.
Ludy was named to the second team, while Blank picked up third-team honors. The Bears hadn’t earned a NCBWA All-America honor since David Murphy was named to the first team in 2003. Ludy and Blank give the Bears 10 all-time NCBWA All-America honors earned by nine different players.
Both players were previously named third-team All-Americans by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, along with teammates Josh Turley (second team) and Logan Vick (third team). Prior to this season, Baylor’s last All-Americans by any publication were in 2003.
Ludy earned Big 12 Player of the Year honors on his way to hitting .362 with 16 home runs and 71 RBI. Ludy led the league in home runs, RBI and slugging percentage (.634), ranked third in batting average and hits (84), fourth in on-base percentage (.455) and ninth in doubles (15). He had five more home runs and 15 more RBI than any other player in the conference. Ludy’s 16 home runs were the 10th most in a season in program history, and his 71 RBI ranked fourth all-time at Baylor and were the most since 2003.
Blank picked up second-team All-Big 12 honors and went 11-1 with a 2.23 ERA over 105.0 innings of work in 19 appearances. He led the Big 12 in wins, ranked sixth in ERA and ninth in innings pitched. Blank’s 11 wins tied for the fourth-most in a single season in program history and were the most by a Baylor pitcher since 2000. He picked up his 11th victory by allowing only one run in 8.0 innings to lead the Bears to a win over Arkansas in game one of the Waco Super Regional on Saturday.
Both players will have a chance to play professionally after being chosen in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. Ludy was drafted in the eighth round by the Philadelphia Phillies, and Blank was selected in the 30th round by the Colorado Rockies.
The Big 12 Conference had seven players named to the NCBWA All-America teams, and Baylor joined Texas A&M as the only Big 12 teams with multiple selections. Baylor finished the 2012 season with a 49-16 record, one in shy of the school record and its fourth trip to the College World Series.
BAYLOR ALL-AMERICANS (NCBWA SELECTIONS BOLDED)
Larry Isbell, 1952
Mickey Sullivan, 1953 & 1954
Jerry Mallett, 1957
Steve Macko, 1977
Jason Marshall, 1993
Joe Wharton, 1993
Marty Crawford, 1996
Kris Lambert, 1997
Charley Carter, 1998
Jason Jennings, 1998 & 1999
Kip Wells, 1998
Eric Nelson, 1999
Jon Topolski, 1999
Zane Carlson, 2000
Chad Hawkins, 2000
Kelly Shoppach, 2001
Chris Durbin, 2003
David Murphy, 2003
Trent Blank, 2012
Josh Ludy, 2012
Josh Turley, 2012
Logan Vick, 2012
