TTU Baseball : Trio tabbed to preseason All-Big 12 team
IRVING, Texas – The Texas Tech trio of Ty Coleman, Mason Molina and Hudson White were named to the preseason All-Big 12 baseball team, the conference announced on Wednesday. The honorees were selected in a vote of the league’s head coaches and coaches could not vote for their own players.
White, a sophomore, returns this season as the reigning Big 12 Freshman of the Year and one of seven unanimous selections for the Big 12 all-freshman team last year. White was one of six Red Raiders to make 58 or more starts during the 2022 season. He made 39 starts behind the plate and 19 at first base.
White hit .337 in Big 12 games last season, hitting four home runs and driving home 22 runs in league games. He was the sixth Texas Tech freshman to earn Big 12 Freshman of the Year honors and the third since 2017 joining Josh Jung (2017) and Gabe Holt (2018). White hit .260 his freshman season with six home runs, 11 doubles and 40 RBIs. White’s collegiate career got off to a slow start but finished the season with a .299 battings average over the final 45 games.
Coleman, a senior, enters his second campaign as a Red Raider in 2023 coming off a debut season where he was tabbed a Big 12 honorable mention selection. Coleman batted .318 for the year in 2022 with 14 doubles, eight home runs and 59 RBIs. He started 54 games, 53 coming as the Red Raiders’ designated hitter.
Meanwhile, Molina was a member of the 2022 Big 12 All-Freshman Team alongside teammate White. He appeared in 20 games, including nine starts. Molina moved into a bullpen role in early April, and owned a 1.96 ERA out of the pen in 11 relief appearances over 18.1 innings of work. In total, Molina logged 57.2 innings pitched as a true freshman, which was the third-most on the team. Of the four Texas Tech pitchers in 2022 that tossed 55 or more innings, Molina owned the top opposing batting average (.215).
TCU led the Big 12 with five of the 17 student-athletes on the Preseason All-Big 12 team, and was trailed by Oklahoma State (4), Texas Tech (3), Oklahoma (2), Texas (2) and Kansas State (1).
The Big 12 Preseason Poll will be revealed on Thursday, Jan. 25. All nine Big 12 teams open the season Friday, February 17.
Preseason All-Big 12 Team
C- Hudson White, Texas Tech
IF- Nick Goodwin, Kansas State*
IF- Jackson Nicklaus, Oklahoma
IF- Marcus Brown, Oklahoma State
IF- Roc Riggio, Oklahoma State
IF- Brayden Taylor, TCU*
OF- John Spikerman, Oklahoma
OF- Austin Davis, TCU
OF- Elijah Nunez, TCU
DH- Ty Coleman, Texas Tech
UT- Nolan McLean, Oklahoma State*
SP- Juaron Watts-Brown, Oklahoma State*
SP- Lucas Gordon, Texas
SP- Tanner Witt, Texas
SP- Mason Molina, Texas Tech
RP- Luke Savage, TCU
RP- Garrett Wright, TCU
*- Unanimous selection
Preseason Player of the Year
Brayden Taylor, TCU
Preseason Pitcher of the Year
Juaron Watts-Brown, Oklahoma State
Preseason Newcomer of the Year
Juaron Watts-Brown, Oklahoma State
Preseason Freshman of the Year
Anthony Silva, TCU
-TECH-
Release provided by MATT BURKHOLDER Texas Tech Athletics