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For the first time in Indiana baseball program history, the Hoosiers saw three members of its roster earn Freshman All-American honors. The trio of Carter Mathison, Josh Pyne and Brock Tibbitts all collected the honor.
Indiana's previous program record was two members named to the team, in 2011 and 2012.
They become the first freshmen trio in program history to all drive in at least 40 RBIs in the same season.
Below is the full release from Indiana.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – A program-record three student-athletes earned Freshman All-America honors from Collegiate Baseball Newspaper. The trio of outfielder Carter Mathison, third baseman Josh Pyne and first baseman Brock Tibbitts each earned the honor the publication.
Indiana was one of four programs with three-or-more student-athletes on Collegiate Baseball's Freshman All-America team, joining Oregon State, Tennessee and UCLA. The Hoosiers were the only program in the nation with three position players named to the list by the publication.
Previously, Indiana had two Freshman All-America selections in back-to-back seasons during the 2011 and 2012 campaigns. Dustin DeMuth and Joey DeNato earned the recognition in 2011, while Kyle Schwarber and Sam Travis garnered honors in 2012.
This trio became the first freshman trio in the history of Indiana baseball to each drive in 40 RBIs in the same season, while Mathison set or tied two IU freshman records and Pyne joined an exclusive freshman group. The trio each earned All-Big Ten Freshman Team honors from the conference coaches.
The freshman single-season home runs leader at Indiana, Mathison became the first freshman since Travis in 2012 to lead the team in home runs. His 19 long balls rank No. 2 all-time in Big Ten history among freshmen (21 - Brad Carlson, Iowa; 1999), passed Alex Dickerson's freshman mark of 14 (2009) at Indiana and finished tied for No. 5 on Indiana's single-season charts. The 19 home runs helped the left-handed hitter produce 58 RBIs on the season, which tied the freshman record set by Phil Dauphin in 1988. The 58 RBIs ranked No. 2 among Power 5 freshmen nationally and led all Big Ten rookies. Along with his team-leading 19 home runs, he also paced the team with 55 runs scored and was second on the team in RBIs.
Pyne was among the top hitters in the Big Ten with a .327 batting average, which was second among B1G rookies, while his 57 RBIs ranked No. 2 in the Big Ten and No. 7 nationally among rookies – No. 3 among Power 5 freshmen. That RBI total is also tied for No. 3 on Indiana freshman-only charts with Dickerson (2009) and Mike Sabo (1985) On the year, the right-handed hitter piled up 74 hits to become the sixth Hoosier freshman to reach the 70-hit mark and the first freshman to lead the team in hits since 2012 (Travis). That total led all Big Ten freshmen. The hit total included 20 doubles, which rank tied for No. 8 on the single season charts, one triple and six home runs.
Moving from catcher to first base in his first collegiate season, Tibbitts finished his freshman season ranked No. 5 on IU's freshman-only home runs charts with nine and No. 12 on the freshman-only RBI list with 43. He was third on the team with 38 walks and his .382 on-base percentage was sixth on the squad.
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