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See how Texas Tech baseball fared on preseason all-Big 12 team
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- See how Texas Tech baseball fared on preseason all-Big 12 team
Texas Tech baseball first baseman Gavin Kash was a unanimous selection on the preseason all-Big 12 baseball team selected by the conference's coaches and released Wednesday.
Kash hit .327 last year with 26 home runs and 84 runs batted in, ranking tied for fifth and a solo seventh in the latter two categories in NCAA Division I. The Beaumont Kelly graduate transferred to Tech from Texas and earned first-team all-Big 12 recognition in his first year with the Red Raiders.
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The lefthanded power hitter was the only Texas Tech player named to the preseason all-Big 12 team. It features 17 players, including four starting pitchers and two relievers.
West Virginia middle infielder J.J. Wetherholt is the preseason player of the year, coming off a season in which he won the Division I batting title and was a unanimous all-American. Other preseason choices are Texas righthander Lebarron Johnson as pitcher of the year, TCU's Payton Tolle as newcomer of the year and Texas' Will Gasparino as freshman of the year.
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Johnson was 8-4 last season with a 2.91 earned-run average and one save.
Tolle is a transfer from Wichita State who was a unanimous all-America honoree and a finalist for the John Olerud Award that goes to the nation's top two-way player. He batted .311 with 13 homers and 50 RBI and went 9-3 with a 4.62 ERA.
Gasparino, a 6-foot-6, 210-pound outfielder from Los Angeles Harvard-Westlake, was ranked the No. 75 prospect for last year's Major League draft by MLB.com. He's a son of former Oklahoma State infielder Billy Gasparino, who's now the Dodgers ' scouting director.
Kash and Wetherholt were two of five players who appeared on every ballot. The others were Oklahoma State outfielder Nolan Schubart, TCU pitcher Kole Klecker and Kansas State relief pitcher Tyson Neighbors. Schubart batted .338 with 17 homers and 74 RBI.
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Klecker went 10-4 with a 3.72 ERA, and Neighbors was 5-1 with a 1.85 ERA, 11 saves and 86 strikeouts in 48 2/3 innings.
All Big 12 teams start the season on Feb. 16. Tech opens at Globe Life Field in Arlington, facing Tennessee at 7 p.m. Feb. 16, Nebraska at 3 p.m. Feb. 17 and Oregon at 2:30 p.m. Feb. 18.
Texas Tech first baseman Gavin Kash (13) is one of five unanimous selections on the all-Big 12 baseball team selected by coaches and announced Wednesday.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: See how Texas Tech baseball fared on preseason all-Big 12 team
