It wasn’t anywhere near the season the Ohio State baseball team hoped for, but 2023 did end on a positive note with the Buckeyes winning nine-straight games, including a three-game sweep of arch-rival Michigan to end the season. The finish provides a little hope for a potential turnaround in 2024, and if it’s going to happen, the Buckeyes will need its young core to be a big part of that.
Good thing then that two OSU baseball players were named to the Big Ten All-Freshmen team on Tuesday.
Both Catcher Matthew Graveline and shortstop Henry Kaczmar were honored with the announcement of the Big Ten baseball awards Wednesday.
Graveline did more than catch, he also spent time in the outfield. According to a release from Ohio State, “he started 49 of the 50 games he played in this season and finished with a .287 batting average. He led the Buckeyes in runs scored with 45 and his 56 hits and 12 stolen bases were the second-most on the team. Graveline added eight doubles, two triples, four home runs and 35 RBIs. He recorded 13 multi-hit games.”
As far as Kaczmar goes, he too had a season to remember. A release from the university highlighted his start in 55 games at shortstop and “a strong rookie campaign. He led the Buckeyes in hits with 61 and batted in a team-high 46 runs. Kaczmar had 17 multi-hit games and finished the season batting .293. Kaczmar scored 29 runs, had 10 doubles, seven home runs and seven stolen bases.”
𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙠𝙮'𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙢𝙞𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙚 𝙧𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙞𝙚𝙨 🪂
Congratulations to @MGraveline09 and @HenryKaczmar, who have been selected to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team‼️#GoBucks pic.twitter.com/7CrmMJDikw
— Ohio State Baseball (@OhioStateBASE) May 23, 2023
The Big Ten also announced the sportsmanship awards for each team in the conference, with infielder, and graduate student, Marcus Ernst, as the honoree for Ohio State.
Congrats to all three players on the notoriety from the Big Ten, and here’s to watching the two freshman help turn things around in 2024.
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