Elon’s Brnovich Named CAA Baseball Rookie of the Year, Five Elon Players Honored

RICHMOND, Va. – Following a stellar season on the mound, Elon University freshman pitcher Kyle Brnovich has been selected as the Colonial Athletic Association Baseball Rookie of the Year as announced by the league office on Tuesday, May 23. Including Brnovich, a total of five Phoenix players were honored as Ryne Ogren, Kyle Jackson, Hayden Platt and George Kirby also picked up accolades.

In addition to Rookie of the Year laurels, Brnovich was chosen as a first-team All-CAA player and a member of the CAA All-Rookie Team. Ogren, a sophomore shortstop, was a first-team all-conference pick and earned a spot on the CAA All-Academic Team. Jackson, a senior outfielder, picked up second-team all-league accolades, while Platt, a junior catcher, was a third-team selection. Kirby, a freshman pitcher, was a part of the all-rookie squad.

Brnovich, who hails from Milton, Ga., is 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. The righty posted a 6-4 record during the regular season and enters the conference tournament tied for the program’s Division I freshman record with 96 strikeouts, a number that rates third in the league. Brnovich’s six wins also matched a program Division I record for a freshman. His 3.13 ERA ranked second in the CAA, while his .192 opponent batting average topped the conference. In CAA games, opponents hit just .175 off of the freshman. At one point this year, Brnovich has a streak of 20.2 scoreless innings. He has made 14 appearances, including 13 starts and logged 83.1 innings. The three-time CAA Rookie of the Week also claimed on league pitcher of the week honor in 2016. 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.

Ogren, a native of Devon, Pa., led the Phoenix with a .358 batting average, 42 runs scored, 77 hits and 21 doubles during the regular season. His 21 doubles are tied for the third-most in a season by any Elon player in program history. Ogren concluded the regular season ranked second in the CAA in batting average and led the league in both hits and doubles. Earlier this season he tallied a career-best 14-game hitting streak and posted a 23-game streak of reaching base safely. Ogren, who is the only Elon player to start all 54 games, has had a team-best 21 multi-hit performances. In CAA games, Ogren hit .351 with 20 runs scored, seven doubles, two home runs and 17 RBI. Defensively, the shortstop posted a .972 fielding percentage overall and a .989 fielding percentage in conference play. In league play, Ogren made just one error in 88 chances.

Jackson, who is from Atlanta, Ga., batted .311 with 40 runs scored and 17 doubles over 54 games. He led the team with 12 homers and 50 RBI. Jackson was successful on nine of his 10 stolen base attempts. With double-digit homers, he became the first Phoenix player with consecutive campaigns with 10 or more homers since the 2009 and 2010 seasons. Jackson was named the CAA Player of the Week and one of Collegiate Baseball’s National Players of the Week on April 3 after hitting .467 (7-for-15) with two doubles, four home runs, six runs scored and 14 RBI in a 4-0 week. The senior drove in five with a pair of homers and a double in a 3-for-5 day in a win at High Point. In 24 CAA games, Jackson hit .301 with 18 runs scored, four doubles, five home runs and 26 RBI.

Platt, a native of Naples, Fla., was second on the squad with a .319 batting average in the regular season. In 43 games he scored 17 runs, had nine doubles, seven home runs and 30 RBI while slugging a team-best .578. Platt was even better in CAA games, leading the team and ranking second in the conference with a .391 batting average. He crossed the plate 12 times, had six doubles, five homers and 20 RBI in CAA play. Platt was a part of Elon history as he caught all nine-innings of Robbie Welhaf’s no-hitter against Longwood.

Kirby, who hails from Rye, N.Y., went 1-3 with a 5.12 ERA in his rookie season. Over 58.0 innings, he struck out 52 hitters. He made 15 appearances, including five starts on the mound. In CAA action, Kirby made eight appearances with two starts. He went 1-1 with a 5.64 ERA in conference games, striking out 34 hitters in 30.1 innings of work.

2017 CAA Baseball Honors
First Team
C – Ryan Jeffers, UNCW
1B – Nick Patten, Delaware
2B – Cullen Large, William & Mary
SS – Ryne Ogren, Elon
3B – Tommy Richter, Col. of Charleston
OF – Jordan Glover, Delaware
OF – Casey Golden, UNCW
OF – Logan McRae, Col. of Charleston
UT – Teddy Cillis, Hofstra
DH – Nick Feight, UNCW
SP – Kyle Brnovich, Elon
SP – Alex Royalty, UNCW
RP – Burk FitzPatrick, Delaware

2017 CAA PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Casey Golden, OF, UNCW
2017 CAA PITCHER OF THE YEAR: Alex Royalty, RHP, UNCW
2017 CAA DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Max Burt, SS, Northeastern
2017 CAA ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Kyle Brnovich, RHP, Elon
2017 CAA COACH OF THE YEAR: Mike Glavine, Northeastern

Second Team
C – Brian Mayer, Delaware
1B – Cam Hanley, Northeastern
2B – Brian Mims, UNCW
SS – Jeremy Ake, Delaware
3B – David Leiderman, Hofstra
OF – Kyle Jackson, Elon
OF – Brandon Raquet, William & Mary
OF – Adam Sisk, James Madison
UT – Charlie McConnell, Northeastern
DH – Doug Trimble, Delaware
SP – Ron Marinaccio, Delaware
SP – Evan Sisk, Col. of Charleston
RP – Carter Love, Col. of Charleston

Third Team
C – Hayden Platt, Elon
1B – Brett Johnson, James Madison
2B – Nick Tierno, Delaware
SS – Max Burt, Northeastern
3B – Diaz Nardo, Delaware
UT – Fox Semones, James Madison
DH – Ryder Miconi, William & Mary
OF – Ryan Hall, William & Mary
OF – Kevin Mohollen, Delaware
OF – Calvin Scott, Delaware
SP – Brian Christian, Northeastern
SP – Mike Fitzgerald, Northeastern
RP – Clark Cota, UNCW

CAA All-Rookie Team
P – Kyle Brnovich, Elon
P – Jakob Frishmuth, Col. of Charleston
INF – Scott Holzwasser, Northeastern
P – Kevin Kelly, James Madison
P – George Kirby, Elon
OF – Brandon Raquet, William & Mary
P – Brian Rodriguez, Northeastern
INF – Patrick Ryan, William & Mary
INF – Fox Semones, James Madison
P – Zarion Sharpe, UNCW

CAA All-Academic Team
INF – Tom Archer, Hofstra
P – Matt Golczewski, Towson
INF – Brett Johnson, James Madison
INF – Nolan Lang, Northeastern
P – Carter Love, Col. of Charleston
C – Brian Mayer, Delaware
INF – Ryder Miconi, William & Mary
INF – Ryne Ogren, Elon
OF – Robbie Thorburn, UNCW