DENVER - Following stellar first years in college baseball, Seattle U freshman Tarik Skubal and Grand Canyon freshman Garrison Schwartz have been named to the Louisville Slugger Freshmen All-American Team, as selected by the Collegiate Baseball newspaper.
Skubal finished the 2015 season with a 7-4 overall record, leading the Redhawk pitching staff in victories, and a 3.24 earned run average. In 83 1/3 innings of work, he allowed just 69 hits and 37 runs, 30 of them earned, plus he struck out 68 batters while walking just 27 hitters and allowing a .224 opponent batting average.
As the Sunday starter in conference play, Skubal posted a 6-1 record with a 2.47 earned run average and two complete games over the final two weekends of the regular season. He struck out 51 batters in 51 innings on the mound, including 11 strikeouts on May 10 against Chicago State, tying the modern-day single-game school record for strikeouts.
Schwartz earns honors two weeks after he was named WAC Freshman of the Year and tagged with Second Team All-WAC honors.
The GCU outfielder, who was an instrumental piece in helping the Lopes capture the WAC regular season title, finished his rookie campaign with a .357 average at the plate, drilling 10 doubles, while driving in 40 runs. Schwartz tied for fifth in the WAC in batting, hitting .413 on the season, recording 22 RBI and four sacrifice flies at the plate. He was also impressive on defense, posting a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage in the outfield.
The team is headed by Collegiate Baseball's Freshman Pitcher of The Year RHP Alex Lange of LSU and Freshmen Players of The Year Brendan McKay of Louisville and JJ Schwarz of Florida.
The complete release can be found here.