May 20, 2003

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - The Big Ten Conference announced the 2003 All-Big Ten Baseball teams and individual honors as six Northwestern baseball players were named all-conference.

Sophomore J.A. Happ (Peru, Ill./St. Bede Academy) was NU's only first-team recipient, as the left-hander earned his second-straight first team accolade. Happ led the Wildcats with seven wins and 91 strikeouts. His ERA of 3.20 was the fourth-best earned-run average in the Big Ten.

Juniors David Gresky (North Royalton, Ohio/St. Ignatius) and Dan Konecny (Ripon, Wis./Ripon) each garnered their first conference distinction, as they were both voted second-team members. Gresky led NU with a .326 average, hitting nine home runs and driving in 43. Konecny finished third in the conference in ERA, sporting a 2.93 in 83.0 innings pitched. His 83.0 innings pitched was the second most in the Big Ten.

Senior Travis Tharp (Boulder, Colo./Boulder) received his second-straight conference honor as the first baseman was named third-team All-Big Ten. Sophomore Jon Mikrut (Wauconda, Ill./Carmel) and freshman Dan Brauer (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton-Warrenville South) also garnered a third team nod. Mikrut, who doubled as NU's closer, ended the regular season with a .320 average and five saves. His five saves led the team for the second-straight year. Brauer, NU's third starter in a four-man rotation, ended the year with a 5-3 overall record and 4-3 in conference action. The left-hander struck out 44 in 54.0 innings pitched.

The Conference Champions from Minnesota collected three postseason awards as senior Luke Appert was named the Player of the Year for the second-straight season and mentor John Anderson was tabbed Coach of the Year. In addition, Minnesota's Glen Perkins was honored as the Big Ten's Freshman of the Year and Ohio State's Scott Lewis, last year's freshman honoree, was named the Pitcher of the Year. Appert, Perkins and Lewis were the only three student-athletes to earn unanimous selections.

Appert, who shared Big Ten Player of the Year honors with two others last season, becomes only the second player in league history to earn consecutive Player of the Year awards since Michigan's Barry Larkin (1984-85).

As for the All-Big Ten teams, five League standouts were able to repeat their first team selections from a year ago in Appert, Lewis, Minnesota shortstop Scott Welch, Indiana third baseman Vasili Spanos and Happ (who was honored as a relief pitcher in 2002). The first team includes players from seven different schools, led by four selections from Minnesota (Appert, Welch, Perkins and Sam Steidl) and three picks each from Michigan (Mike Sokol, Jake Fox and Drew Taylor) and Ohio State (Lewis, Christian Snavely and Matt Davis). Spanos, who led the Conference in batting average and home runs, is the first back-to-back first team choice for the Hoosiers since Mike Smith accomplished the feat in 1991 and 1992. Happ joins former-Wildcat Jeremy Kurella (1999, 2000) as just the second two-time first team honoree for Northwestern since 1986.

The 2003 All-Big Ten Baseball Teams are listed below.

2003 ALL-BIG TEN BASEBALL TEAMS

FIRST TEAM
1B - Andy Schutzenhofer, ILL
2B - Luke Appert, MINN#
SS - Scott Welch, MINN
3B - Vasili Spanos, IND
OF - Sam Steidl, MINN
OF - Christian Snavely, OSU
OF - Daniel Underwood, PUR
DH - Mike Sokol, MICH
C - Jake Fox, MICH
P - Drew Taylor, MICH
P - Glen Perkins, MINN#
P - J.A. Happ, NU
P - Scott Lewis, OSU#
RP - Matt Davis, OSU

SECOND TEAM
1B - David Roach, MINN
2B - Drew Anderson, OSU
SS - Eric Eymann, ILL
3B - Brock Koman, MICH
OF - Kyle Thousand, IOWA
OF - Gino Lollio, MICH
OF - David Gresky, NU
DH - Andy Hunter, MINN
C - Brady Burrill, MSU
P - Bryan Gale, MSU
P - C.J. Woodrow, MINN
P - Dan Konecny, NU
P - Josh Newman, OSU
RP - Jeff Moen, MINN

THIRD TEAM
1B - Travis Tharp, NU
2B - Corby Heckman, IND
SS - Jon Mikrut, NU
3B - Simon Klink, PUR
OF - Travis Gulick, MSU
OF - Ben Pattee, MINN
OF - Wes Reohr, PSU
DH - Steve Caravati, OSU
C - Derek Kinnear, OSU*
C - Ben Fritz, PUR*
P - Joe Ziemba, ILL*
P - Nathan Johnson, IOWA*
P - Matt Loberg, MINN*
P - Dan Brauer, NU*
P - Jim Farrell, PSU*
RP - Clint Eury, PSU

Player of the Year: Luke Appert, MINN
Pitcher of the Year: Scott Lewis, OSU
Freshman of the Year: Glen Perkins, MINN
Coach of the Year: John Anderson, MINN#

# Unanimous selection
* Additional honorees due to ties