COLUMBUS, Ohio – Alex Wimmers and Jake Hale each added to their post-season accolades as PING! Baseball named the pair to its 2009 All-America baseball teams. Wimmers was a first-team selection and Hale was a second-team honoree.
This is the second All-American honor for each player this season. Two weeks ago Wimmers was named a second-team Louisville Slugger All-American for 2009 and Hale made the third-team.
Wimmers, the 11th Buckeye to be named a first-team All-American, posted a 9-2 record this season with a 3.27 earned run average in addition to Big Ten bests in strikeouts (136) and opposing batting average (.211). He was honored as the Big Ten pitcher or co-pitcher of the week four times this year and selected as a national pitcher of the week twice. He pitched a no-hitter May 2 vs. Michigan with 14 strikeouts, facing just one batter over the minimum. It was the first nine-inning no-hitter in Ohio State history.
Hale, one of five finalists for the fifth annual National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Stopper of the Year Award, appeared in a school-record 40 games this season, finished the last 39 games – consecutively – he entered and posted the third-most saves total in college baseball – a school-record 18. He also posted a miniscule 1.31 ERA and an opposing batting average of .191. His 18 saves enabled him to set the Ohio State career saves mark with 29.
There have now been 38 Ohio State players to be honored as an All-American, for a total of 50 times. Ohio State’s first-team All-Americans:
2009 – Alex Wimmers, P
2006 – Ronnie Bourquin, 3B
2003 – Scott Lewis, P
1999 – Justin Fry, P
1994 – Matt Beaumont, P
1967 – Ray Shoup, RF
1966 – Steve Arlin, P
1965 – Steve Arlin, P\
1960 – Tom Perdue, OF
1954 – Paul Ebert, P
1951 – Stewart Hein, OF
1950 – Fred Taylor, 1B
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