TEMPE, Ariz. – Spencer Torkelson earned two national honors in the last week, as he was tabbed the National Co-Freshman of the Year by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and the National Freshman Hitter of the Year by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.
Torkelson earned Freshman All-America honors from both outlets, while teammates Dellan Raish and Gage Workman were also named Freshman All-Americans by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper.
Earlier this month, Torkelson was named a Second Team All-American (regardless of year) by both Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and Baseball America. He was the only freshman at any position to be selected as an All-American by Baseball America and the only positional freshman selection by CBN, joining two freshmen pitchers from Minnesota on that All-America team. Torkelson was also named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year by the conference earlier this month as well.
Torkelson was just the seventh Sun Devil in school history to be named an All-American as a freshman. He joins Mike Kelly (1989) and Casey Myers (1998) as the only two ASU position players to be named All-Americans as freshman. Pitchers Kendall Carter (1981), Phil Lowery (1996), Mike Leake (2007) and Ryan Kellogg (2013) are the only other freshmen in program history to be named All-Americans.
He is the third Sun Devil to be named Pac-12 Freshman/Newcomer of the Year, joining Ike Davis (2006) and Jason Kipnis (2008).
The freshman took the nation by storm, leading the country during the regular season with 25 home runs – two more than any other player and just one shy of the NCAA freshman record. Torkelson is just the sixth player to reach 25 home runs since the BBCOR batting technology changes took effect in 2011 and the only freshman in the NCAA to reach the milestone in that time.
Against Washington State, he surpassed the previous Sun Devil freshman record of 11 home runs set by Barry Bonds in 1983. Torkelson finished tied with Bob Horner (1978) for second in ASU single-season history, just two shy of Mitch Jones' school record 27 in 2000.
Torkelson slugged .743 on the season (25 homers, 12 doubles), the third-highest total for any freshman in the NCAA in the past two decades and the highest for a freshman in the BBCOR era (since 2011). Only Rickie Weeks (.849 in 2001) and Jeremy Baltz (.771, 2010) have posted higher freshman slugging percentages in the past 20 years.
In Pac-12 games only, Torkelson led the conference in slugging (.754), runs (38), total bases (86) and home runs (14). No other player in the league led the conference in more than two categories – compared to four for Torkelson.
Torkelson scored 59 runs on the season, third-most in ASU freshman history while his 53 total RBI were fifth among all freshmen in Sun Devil lore. Torkelson's 66 hits are ninth in ASU freshman history as well.
Dellan Raish redshirt the 2017 campaign for the Sun Devils but returned to the squad to seal himself as the team's top reliever out of the bullpen over the course of the 2018 campaign.
Raish led the team this season with his 3.00 ERA and struck out 47 batters in 42.0 innings pitched, easily the most among the team's relief pitchers and fourth on the team, overall.
Opponents bat just .214 against Raish this season, a total that would be good for fifth in the Pac-12 with just a seven more innings to his credit. Raish allowed just 13 hits in 21.0 innings of Pac-12 action with a 4-0 record in league games - a win total that ranked in the Top 10 in league only games.
He 2.57 ERA in Pac-12 games would have been good for fourth in the Pac-12 with just a handful more innings to his credit. Raish was also named to the Pac-12 All-Academic Team last week.
Workman hit seven triples this season, a total good for second in the Pac-12 and fifth overall in the country. The frosh bat .276 on the season good for one of the top five freshman batting averages in the Pac-12 Conference.
The potent switch hitter finished with three home runs, seven triples and 10 doubles for a .466 slugging percentage. He slugged .505 in league-only games on the season and led the team with four triples in Pac-12 only games.
2018 Trophy Case
All-Americans
Spencer Torkelson - Collegiate Baseball News (2nd Team); Baseball America (2nd Team)
Gage Canning - Collegiate Baseball News (1st Team); Baseball America (3rd Team)
Freshman All-Americans
Spencer Torkelson - Collegiate Baseball News (National Co-Freshman of the Year); NCWBA (1st Team – National Freshman Hitter of the Year)
Dellan Raish – Collegiate Baseball News
Gage Workman - Collegiate Baseball News
Pac-12 Freshman of the Year
Spencer Torkelson
Golden Spikes Award Semifinalist
Spencer Torkelson
Dick Howser Trophy Semifinalist
Spencer Torkelson
Pac-12 All-Conference
Spencer Torkelson - First Team
Gage Canning - First Team
Carter Aldrete - Honorable Mention
Lyle Lin - Honorable Mention
Pac-12 All-Defensive Team
Gage Canning - First Team, Outfielder
Pac-12 All-Academic Team
Eli Lingos – First Team
Dellan Raish – Second Team
Hunter Bishop – Honorable Mention
Connor Higgins – Honorable Mention
Gage Canning – Honorable Mention
Torkelson earned Freshman All-America honors from both outlets, while teammates Dellan Raish and Gage Workman were also named Freshman All-Americans by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper.
Earlier this month, Torkelson was named a Second Team All-American (regardless of year) by both Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and Baseball America. He was the only freshman at any position to be selected as an All-American by Baseball America and the only positional freshman selection by CBN, joining two freshmen pitchers from Minnesota on that All-America team. Torkelson was also named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year by the conference earlier this month as well.
Torkelson was just the seventh Sun Devil in school history to be named an All-American as a freshman. He joins Mike Kelly (1989) and Casey Myers (1998) as the only two ASU position players to be named All-Americans as freshman. Pitchers Kendall Carter (1981), Phil Lowery (1996), Mike Leake (2007) and Ryan Kellogg (2013) are the only other freshmen in program history to be named All-Americans.
He is the third Sun Devil to be named Pac-12 Freshman/Newcomer of the Year, joining Ike Davis (2006) and Jason Kipnis (2008).
The freshman took the nation by storm, leading the country during the regular season with 25 home runs – two more than any other player and just one shy of the NCAA freshman record. Torkelson is just the sixth player to reach 25 home runs since the BBCOR batting technology changes took effect in 2011 and the only freshman in the NCAA to reach the milestone in that time.
Against Washington State, he surpassed the previous Sun Devil freshman record of 11 home runs set by Barry Bonds in 1983. Torkelson finished tied with Bob Horner (1978) for second in ASU single-season history, just two shy of Mitch Jones' school record 27 in 2000.
Torkelson slugged .743 on the season (25 homers, 12 doubles), the third-highest total for any freshman in the NCAA in the past two decades and the highest for a freshman in the BBCOR era (since 2011). Only Rickie Weeks (.849 in 2001) and Jeremy Baltz (.771, 2010) have posted higher freshman slugging percentages in the past 20 years.
In Pac-12 games only, Torkelson led the conference in slugging (.754), runs (38), total bases (86) and home runs (14). No other player in the league led the conference in more than two categories – compared to four for Torkelson.
Torkelson scored 59 runs on the season, third-most in ASU freshman history while his 53 total RBI were fifth among all freshmen in Sun Devil lore. Torkelson's 66 hits are ninth in ASU freshman history as well.
Dellan Raish redshirt the 2017 campaign for the Sun Devils but returned to the squad to seal himself as the team's top reliever out of the bullpen over the course of the 2018 campaign.
Raish led the team this season with his 3.00 ERA and struck out 47 batters in 42.0 innings pitched, easily the most among the team's relief pitchers and fourth on the team, overall.
Opponents bat just .214 against Raish this season, a total that would be good for fifth in the Pac-12 with just a seven more innings to his credit. Raish allowed just 13 hits in 21.0 innings of Pac-12 action with a 4-0 record in league games - a win total that ranked in the Top 10 in league only games.
He 2.57 ERA in Pac-12 games would have been good for fourth in the Pac-12 with just a handful more innings to his credit. Raish was also named to the Pac-12 All-Academic Team last week.
Workman hit seven triples this season, a total good for second in the Pac-12 and fifth overall in the country. The frosh bat .276 on the season good for one of the top five freshman batting averages in the Pac-12 Conference.
The potent switch hitter finished with three home runs, seven triples and 10 doubles for a .466 slugging percentage. He slugged .505 in league-only games on the season and led the team with four triples in Pac-12 only games.
2018 Trophy Case
All-Americans
Spencer Torkelson - Collegiate Baseball News (2nd Team); Baseball America (2nd Team)
Gage Canning - Collegiate Baseball News (1st Team); Baseball America (3rd Team)
Freshman All-Americans
Spencer Torkelson - Collegiate Baseball News (National Co-Freshman of the Year); NCWBA (1st Team – National Freshman Hitter of the Year)
Dellan Raish – Collegiate Baseball News
Gage Workman - Collegiate Baseball News
Pac-12 Freshman of the Year
Spencer Torkelson
Golden Spikes Award Semifinalist
Spencer Torkelson
Dick Howser Trophy Semifinalist
Spencer Torkelson
Pac-12 All-Conference
Spencer Torkelson - First Team
Gage Canning - First Team
Carter Aldrete - Honorable Mention
Lyle Lin - Honorable Mention
Pac-12 All-Defensive Team
Gage Canning - First Team, Outfielder
Pac-12 All-Academic Team
Eli Lingos – First Team
Dellan Raish – Second Team
Hunter Bishop – Honorable Mention
Connor Higgins – Honorable Mention
Gage Canning – Honorable Mention