Brett Sears wins Nebraska's first Big Ten Pitcher of the Year award, three other Huskers honored
Brett Sears delivered night in and night out all season long.
Tuesday morning brought the first of what will likely be a host of postseason accolades for the Huskers’ ace. The Big Ten office announced Sears as the Big Ten Pitcher of the Year just hours before the start of the conference tournament in Omaha.
Sears’ honors make him the first Nebraska arm to earn the award since the Huskers joined the Big Ten in 2012.
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The Westphalia, Iowa, native finished the regular season as the conference leader in ERA (2.05), innings pitched (92), BB/9 (1.6), and WHIP (0.83). His 87 strikeouts were the third-best in the Big Ten and his 16 walks were the lowest in the league among players with at least 65 innings of work. The right-hander’s ERA is the fourth-best nationally and his WHIP is the third-best.
Sears is one strikeout shy of tying Cade Povich for the second-most singles season punchouts in the Big Ten era and six behind leader Matt Waldron’s 93.
Earlier in the season, Sears tossed a two-hit, complete-game shutout of Ohio State. He set a new career high of 10 strikeouts during that game.
Sears’ set a streak of nine consecutive quality starts spanning 55 days, which was the most by a Husker since at least 1999. He is one of five NU pitchers to post 11 quality starts in a single season and tied Joba Chamberlain with his 6 2/3 showing at Michigan State last weekend. Chance Sinclair (12, 2014), Johnny Dorn (12, 2008) and Shane Komine (14, 2000) are the only others with more since 2000.
Sears is also the first Husker to start a season 8-0 since Brian Duensing in 2005.
Other Huskers honored before the Big Ten Tournament
Nebraska saw four other players recognized on All-Big Ten teams.
Designated hitter Tyler Stone and right-handed starter Mason McConnaughey were named Second-Team All-Big Ten honorees. Stone enters the postseason with a .313 batting average, eight home runs and 33 RBIs. McConnaughey finished the regular season with a 7-3 record and a 3.10 ERA.
Both were transfers from the junior college ranks.
Case Sanderson made the Big Ten All-Freshman Team and earned Third-Team All-Big Ten recognition. The Nevada, Missouri, native leads the Huskers with a .373 batting average and has driven in 21 RBIs.
Right-handed junior pitcher Drew Christo was selected for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award.
Nebraska baseball (34-19, 16-8) begins Big Ten Tournament play on Tuesday at 2:00 p.m. CT against Ohio State (28-24, 12-12). Should the second-seeded Huskers win, they will face the victor of Purdue and Indiana at 2:00 p.m. CT on Thursday. Defeat would bring an elimination game against the loser of the same matchup at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday.
All games of the Big Ten Tournament are televised on the Big Ten Network.
