ORU Takes Home Top Summit League Honors

The Oral Roberts baseball squad was well represented on this year's Summit League All-Conference teams after taking home three of the top conference honors.

First baseman Jared Schlehuber was named Summit League Player of the Year, while staff ace Drew Bowen earned Pitcher of the Year honors and third baseman Jose Trevino was named Newcomer of the Year.

Five other Golden Eagles earned All-League recognition as Catcher Bennett Pickar, second baseman Cam Schiller, starting pitcher Kurt Giller and relief pitcher Joe Spring were named to the first team All-Conference, while starting pitcher Alex Gonzalez was a second team honoree.

The Golden Eagles led the Summit League with eight All-League players, and their seven 1st team honorees comprise half of the League's available spots.

Schlehuber, a senior from Aurora, Colo., dominated the opposing pitching in 2012 batting .325 while leading the league with 12 home runs and 52 RBI.

Bowen, a junior from Tulsa, went 5-2 in 11 starts, with a 2.14 ERA. In conference play, Bowen was 2-1 with a 1.78 ERA.

Trevino batted .321 in his rookie season, tying Schlehuber with 12 home runs while driving in 50 runs. He has already set the ORU freshman record for home runs, and he's just two RBI shy of the school's rookie record in that category. In conference play, Trevino hit five home runs and drove in 20 runs. The Corpus Christi, Texas native is the 11th Golden Eagle to win the award, which has been captured by an ORU player every season since 2004.

Pickar batted .310 with two homers and 31 RBI for the regular season while starting all 55 ORU games behind the plate. Despite his grueling work load, the Eaton, Colo., native caught fire in Summit League play, when he batted .380 with a .477 on base percentage and 19 RBI.

Gille who is in his first season for ORU, was 5-4 with a 3.57 ERA in 14 appearances. A native of Manhattan, Kan., the Nebraska transfer owned Summit League competition, as he posted a 3-1 record with a 1.29 ERA.

Spring has been ORU's most versatile pitcher this season, going 5-1 with a 1.93 ERA in 23 appearances, including three starts. The senior from Owasso went 4-0 in ten Summit League assignments, with a spectacular 1.52 ERA. He struck out 27 conference batters in 29.2 innings of Summit League work.

Gonzalez, the 2011 Summit League Pitcher of the Year, battled through early injury troubles to post a 6-2 record with a 1.99 ERA in 15 appearances (12 starts). He was the winning pitcher in ORU's victories over Alabama and No. 13 Cal State Fullerton, and he tossed a shutout in ORU's Summit League clinching victory over North Dakota State last Saturday.

ORU (33-22, 17-6 Summit League) is the top seed and host at this week's Summit League Tournament, which starts on Thursday at J.L. Johnson Stadium. The Golden Eagles face fourth-seeded Southern Utah in their tournament opener, with first pitch scheduled for 7 p.m.

1ST TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE
Name, School // Pos. // Yr. // Hometown

Jared Schlehuber, Oral Roberts // 1B // Sr. // Aurora, Colo.
Cam Schiller, Oral Roberts // 2B // Jr. // Prescott, Ariz.
Jose Trevino, Oral Roberts // 3B // Fr. // Corpus Christi, Texas
Bo Cuthbertson, Southern Utah // SS // Sr. // Glendale, Ariz.
Tim Colwell, North Dakota State // OF // So. // Shoreview, Minn.
Beau Hanowski, South Dakota State // OF // Jr. // Little Falls, Minn.
Tim Ryan, Oakland // OF // Sr. // Saginaw, Mich.
Bennett Pickar, Oral Roberts // C // Jr. // Eaton, Colo.
Kevin Kline, Southern Utah // DH // Fr. // Las Vegas, Nev.
Chase Rezac, Southern Utah // UTL // Jr. // Murray, Utah
Drew Bowen, Oral Roberts // SP // Jr. // Tulsa, Okla.
Kurt Giller, Oral Roberts // SP Jr. Manhattan, Kan.
John Straka, North Dakota State // SP // Jr. // Chaska, Minn.
Joe Spring, Oral Roberts // RP // Sr. // Owasso, Okla.

2ND TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE
Name, School // Pos. // Yr. // Hometown

Nick Colwell, North Dakota State // 1B // Sr. // Shoreview, Minn.
Wes Satzinger, North Dakota State // 2B // So. // Andover, Minn.
Zach Wentz, North Dakota State // 3B // Sr. // Bismarck, N.D.
Austin Cowen, Western Illinois // SS // Sr. // Gillette, Wyo.
Nick Anderson, North Dakota State // OF // Sr. // Boone, Iowa
Dan Dispensa, Western Illinois // OF // Jr. // Chicago, Ill.
Marcus Romero, Southern Utah // OF // Sr. // Henderson, Nev.
Jake Morton, Oakland // C // So. // Jenison, Mich.
Phil Paquette, South Dakota State // DH // So. // Luverne, Minn.
Steve Danielak, IPFW // UTL // So. // Mt. Prospect, Ill.
Alex Gonzalez, Oral Roberts // SP // So. // Delray Beach, Fla.
Jeff Gorecki, Oakland // SP // Sr. // Northville, Mich.
Rich Mascheri, Western Illinois // SP // Sr. // Wauconda, Ill.
Kyle Kingsley, North Dakota State // RP // Jr. // Fargo, N.D.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR--Jared Schlehuber, Oral Roberts

PITCHER OF THE YEAR--Drew Bowen, Oral Roberts

NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR--Jose Trevino, Oral Roberts

COACH OF THE YEAR--John Musachio, Oakland