Elon Baseball’s Brnovich Picks Up Third Freshman All-America Honor

OMAHA, Neb. – The 2017 Colonial Athletic Association Rookie of the Year, Elon right-handed pitcher Kyle Brnovich garnered yet another national postseason honor on Thursday, July 6 when he was selected as a second-team member of the D1Baseball Freshman All-American Team. Brnovich also earned the same honor from Collegiate Baseball and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association last month.

In his rookie campaign Brnovich posted a 6-5 record and set Elon’s Division I freshman record with 103 strikeouts, good for third in the CAA. He became just the fifth Elon player to ever have a 100-strikeout season. Brnovich’s six wins matched a program Division I record for a freshman. His 3.10 ERA ranked third in the CAA, while his .204 opponent batting average ranked fourth in the conference. In CAA games, opponents hit just .175 off of the freshman. At one point this year, Brnovich had a streak of 20.2 scoreless innings. He made 15 appearances, including 14 starts and logged 90.0 innings. The three-time CAA Rookie of the Week also claimed one league pitcher of the week honor in 2017. Following a 15-strikeout performance over 8.1 innings in a win at William & Mary, Brnovich was named one of Collegiate Baseball’s National Players of the Week. He also posted a 10-strikeout outing over 8.0 innings in a victory over UNCW. In a win over James Madison, Brnovich struck out six while tossing a two-hit shutout.

Brnovich was the first Elon baseball player to earn a conference rookie or freshman of the year honor since pitcher Thomas Girdwood did so in the Southern Conference in 2008, and just the second at the NCAA Division I level. He was also chosen as a first-team All-CAA player and a member of the CAA All-Rookie Team.

Elon’s Division I Freshman All-Americans
2006 – Steven Hensley (Louisville Slugger)
2008 – Thomas Girdwood (Louiville Slugger, second-team NCBWA)
2011 – Sebastian Gomez (Louisville Slugger)
2017 – Kyle Brnovich (Collegiate Baseball, second-team NCBWA, second-team D1Baseball)