Texas Sophomore Max Belyeu Named Big 12 Player Of Year

[Blake Munroe]

 

[Blake Munroe]

Texas outfielder Max Belyeu was named Big 12 Player of the Year and TCU left-hander Payton Tolle was named Big 12 Pitcher of the Year as the Conference unveiled its 2024 All-Big 12 Baseball Awards. The honorees were selected in a vote of the league’s head coaches, who could not vote for their own players.
 
Oklahoma’s Skip Johnson was picked as Coach of the Year, after leading the Sooners to their first Big 12 regular season title. Kansas hurler Dominic Voegele was named Freshman of the Year, while Tolle added Newcomer of the Year to his trophy case.
 
A total of 17 student-athletes were named to the All-Big 12 First Team, with Oklahoma State’s Carson Benge, and West Virginia’s JJ Wetherholt earning a first-team nod for the second consecutive season.
 
Belyeu hit 11 of his 17 home runs in Big 12 games, tying for the league lead in Conference play. The sophomore from Aledo, Texas hit .341 with 14 doubles and 49 RBIs, good for a 1.147 on-base plus slugging, which ranked third in the league. He is the fifth Texas player to win the award, and the second in the past three seasons.
 
Tolle, who was the only unanimous selection on the All-Big 12 First Team, led the Conference with a 2.96 earned run average while posting a 7-3 record and a .191 batting average against. In Big 12 games, his 2.26 ERA and .184 batting average against led all starting pitchers. The junior from Yukon, Oklahoma is the first player to win both pitcher and newcomer awards in the same season from any school and becomes the second Horned Frog to win each of the awards.
 
Voegele posted a 7-2 record with a 3.32 ERA, holding batters to a .228 average during his debut season in Lawrence. In league play, the righty from Columbia, Illinois ranked eighth among qualified pitchers with a 3.60 ERA and notched five of his seven wins. He becomes the second Kansas player to win Freshman of the Year, with the award now going to Jayhawks in back-to-back seasons.
 
Johnson guided the Sooners to a 23-7 mark that included six sweeps of Big 12 opponents, as OU captured the regular season title by three games. He is the first Oklahoma coach to receive the Conference honor.
 
 
Player of the Year: Max Belyeu, Texas
Pitcher of the Year: Payton Tolle, TCU
Freshman of the Year: Dominic Voegele, Kansas
Newcomer of the Year: Payton Tolle, TCU
Coach of the Year: Skip Johnson, Oklahoma
 
All-Big 12 First Team
😄 Jake English, Kansas
IF: Brady Day, Kansas State
IF: Michael Snyder, Oklahoma
IF: Jalin Flores, Texas
IF: Jared Thomas, Texas
IF: JJ Wetherholt, West Virginia
OF: Carson Benge, Oklahoma State
OF: Zach Ehrhard, Oklahoma State
OF: Max Belyeu, Texas
DH: Easton Carmichael, Oklahoma
UT: Josh Kross, Cincinnati
SP: Braden Davis, Oklahoma
SP: Brian Holiday, Oklahoma State
SP: Payton Tolle, TCU*
SP: Derek Clark, West Virginia
RP: Ben Abeldt, TCU
RP: Gage Boehm, Texas
*- unanimous selection
 
All-Big 12 Second Team
😄 Kevin Bazzell, Texas Tech
IF: Kodey Shojinaga, Kansas
IF: Kaelen Culpepper, Kansas State
IF: Colin Brueggemann, Oklahoma State
IF: Peyton Powell, Texas
IF: Reed Chumley, West Virginia
OF: Cary Arbolida, Houston
OF: Bryce Madron, Oklahoma
OF: Nolan Schubart, Oklahoma State
DH: Wesley Jordan, Baylor
UT: Christian Mitchelle, Cincinnati
UT: Justin Murray, Houston
SP: Dom Stagliano, UCF
SP: Reese Dutton, Kansas
SP: Dominic Voegele, Kansas
SP: Kyson Witherspoon, Oklahoma
SP: Sam Garcia, Oklahoma State
RP: Tyson Neighbors, Kansas State
RP: Robert Cranz, Oklahoma State

Ties resulted in five starting pitchers and two utility players on the second team

Honorable Mention
Baylor: Ethan Calder, Cole Posey
BYU: Stone Cushing, Mason Olson, Collin Reuter
UCF: Dominic Castellano, Chase Centala, Kyle Kramer, Danny Neri, Matt Prevesk
Cincinnati: Lauden Brooks, Kerrington Cross, Josh Hegemann, Tommy O’Connor, Nathan Taylor
Houston: Cade Citelli, Harold Coll
Kansas: Michael Brooks, Hunter Cranton, Ben Hartl, John Nett
Kansas State: Owen Boerema, Nick English, Brendan Jones, Raphael Pelletier, Jackson Wentworth
Oklahoma: Cater Campbell, Anthony Mackenzie, Scott Mudler, Jackson Nicklaus, John Spikerman, Jaxon Willits
Oklahoma State: Aidan Meola, Tommy Molsky
TCU: Kurtis Byrne, Zachary Cawyer, Logan Maxwell, Sam Myers
Texas: Rylan Galvan, Will Gasparino, Max Grubbs, Jared Thomas (UT), Ace Whitehead
Texas Tech: Damian Bravo, Gavin Kash, Cade McGee, T.J. Pompey, Kyle Robinson, Drew Woodcox
West Virginia: Aidan Major, Sam White (OF/UT), Kyle West
 
All-Freshman Team
Kuhio Aloy, BYU
Nathan Taylor, Cincinnati
Ace Reese, Houston
Dominic Voegele, Kansas
Blake Dean, Kansas State
Jaxon Willits, Oklahoma
Chase Brunson, TCU
Sam Myers, TCU
Will Gasparino, Texas
Mac Heuer, Texas Tech
Parker Hutyra, Texas Tech
T.J. Pompey, Texas Tech