Falcon freshman DJ Newman added another national honor as he has been named to the Baseball America Freshman All-America First Team. Newman was the only Mid-American Conference player named to either the first or the second team (see the complete list here).
The Baseball America honor comes after Newman had been named to the 2023 D1Baseball Division I Freshman All-America First Team and the Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-America Team.
Newman led the Falcons and all MAC freshmen while finishing fourth in the MAC overall for batting average (.383). Similarly, he led the team and finished third in the MAC, second among freshman, for on-base percentage (.481) and finished second on the team in slugging percentage (.495), fourth in hits (41) and fifth in runs scored (28).
On the mound, Newman made 15 appearances with three starts, including eight innings of shutout baseball against Toledo in his final start of the season (May 18). In that appearance against the Rockets, Newman struck out a season-high eight, gave up just two hits, faced only three batters over the minimum and retired the final 17 batters he faced.
Over the course of the season, he maintained a 3.49 ERA, third on the team and second among pitchers with at least 10.0+ innings pitched. He struck out 33 batters over 28.2 innings and walked just five batters, the fewest among pitchers with 10.0+ innings on the team.
“DJ had an outstanding freshman season balancing both offensive and pitching duties,” said head coach Kyle Hallock. “This award correctly recognizes his ability amongst his peers and he is very deserving. We look forward to seeing how he improves going into the 2024 season.”
