Four Freshmen, Ellis, Doanes Earn Big Ten Honors

Josh Pyne, Carter Mathison, Brock Tibbitts and Evan Goforth were named to the All-Big Ten Freshman Team on Monday. Catcher Matthew Ellis earned third-team All-Big Ten honors, and Tyler Doanes was Indiana's recipient of the Sportsmanship Award.

With the Big Ten Tournament beginning on Wednesday, it's time to hand out conference awards.

The Big Ten announced on Tuesday that Josh Pyne, Carter Mathison, Brock Tibbitts and Evan Goforth were named to the All-Big Ten Freshman Team on Monday. Catcher Matthew Ellis earned third-team All-Big Ten honors, and Tyler Doanes was Indiana's recipient of the Sportsmanship Award.

Two players from Iowa and Rutgers made the all-freshman team, but the Hoosiers' freshman quartet gave Indiana the most players on the All-Big Ten freshman team. Indiana fell one player short of tying the program record set in 2012 when five freshmen – Chad Clark, Kyle Hart, Kyle Schwarber, Chris Sujka and Sam Travis – made the team. 

Mathison set the Indiana freshman home run record this season with 17 long balls, which leads the Big Ten and ranks third among freshmen nationally. Mathison also led all Hoosiers with 52 runs scored and a .601 slugging percentage. He's the only Hoosier hitter to reach the 1.000-OPS mark at 1.003.

Pyne became a mainstay in the three-hole, finishing his freshman season with a .329 batting average and 69 hits, which is tied with Bobby Whalen for the team lead. Pyne's 54 RBI rank first among Big Ten freshmen, and his 19 doubles slot him 10th in Indiana's single-season record books. He reached safely in 49 of 53 games and led Indiana with 21 multi-hit games. 

Tibbitts moved from catcher to first base this season and completed Indiana's first ever trio of freshmen to record 40 or more RBI. Tibbitts belted nine home runs this season, which ranks third among Big Ten freshmen. 

When Phillip Glasser went down with an injury in April, Goforth took advantage of a starting role to earn All-Big Ten freshman honors. Goforth finished with a .289 batting average, but he hit .361 with nine RBI across Indiana's final 20 games. 

Ellis was the only Hoosier to be named to one of three All-Big Ten teams, and he was honored as the catcher for the All-Big Ten Third team. Ellis led Indiana with 18 home runs, 64 RBI, 38 walks and 118 total bases. He is the first Indiana backstop since Kyle Schwarber in 2013 and 2014 to earn All-Conference honors, and he tied Schwarber's 2013 season for No. 7 on the Indiana single-season home run list.

Doanes transferred to Indiana this season from West Virginia and made an impact in a variety of ways. He was second on the team with 11 stolen bases and tied for second with 36 walks. Doanes started 54 of 55 games for Indiana en route to receiving Indiana's Sportsmanship Award. 

Indiana (25-30) begins the Big Ten Tournament against No. 10 Maryland (44-10) on Wednesday at 6 p.m. ET from Omaha, Neb.

Stories related to Indiana baseball:

• INDIANA SWEPT, QUALIFIES FOR B1G TOURNAMENT: Indiana was swept at Iowa this weekend, losing its first series in over a month. The Hoosiers finished with a 10-14 record in Big Ten play, which was enough to sneak into the Big Ten tournament as the No. 8 seed. CLICK HERE
• FOLLOWING WHALEN'S LEAD: Leadoff hitter and center fielder Bobby Whalen has started every game for Indiana this season, leading the Hoosiers with toughness and a "win at any cost" mentality. They'll continue to follow his lead into the final regular season series at Iowa beginning at 7 p.m. ET on Thursday.
• ELLIS' GRAND SLAM DEFEATS ILLINOIS STATE: The Hoosiers rallied for a seven-run eighth inning, defeating Illinois State on Tuesday in their final game at Bart Kaufman Field this season. Matthew Ellis' monstrous grand slam put Indiana on top, and Ryan Kraft struck out the side in the ninth. CLICK HERE