Kollin Ritchie Joins Oklahoma State Legends with Latest Award

The Oklahoma State Cowboys may not have Kollin Ritchie on the roster much longer at the rate he’s racking up awards.

Oklahoma State batter Kollin Ritchie. | Gary Cosby Jr. / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Kollin Ritchie is a draft-eligible junior for the MLB draft in July. It’s looking more like the Oklahoma State Cowboy may be drafted high enough to head for the pros.

His latest award puts him among the elite in Cowboys baseball history. On Friday, he was named a first-team All-American by ABCA and Rawlings. That made him the 28th player in program history to be name a first-team All-American.

It also made him the seventh player to do that under current head coach Josh Holliday and the first to do it since Justin Campbell in 2022. After Campbell was selected a first-team All-American, he was selected No. 37 overall by the Cleveland Guardians. He is currently at Double-A Akron.

Kollin Ritche’s Latest Award

Oklahoma State Cowboys slugger Kollin Ritchie. | BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Earlier this week, Ritchie was named second-team All-America by both Perfect Game and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. He was also named first-team All-Region by ABCA and Rawlings. He is also a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award and the Dick Howser Trophy.

He was the catalyst for one of the most powerful lineups in college baseball, as the Cowboys hit the second-most home runs of any program behind only Georgia. Ritchie hit 31 home runs and passed 50 home runs for his career. His 31 homers were the second-most by a Cowboy behind only Pete Incaviglia's NCAA record 48.

In 60 games this season he batted .326 with 31 home runs and 75 RBI. He also had 13 doubles, an .804 slugging percentage and a 1.266 OPS. He led the team with 20 multi-RBI games and was second with 19 multi-hit games. He finished among the NCAA leaders in home runs (third), total bases (fifth), runs scored (sixth), slugging percentage (eighth) and RBI (12th).

With his latest award, this could push Ritchie’s draft stock over the edge and to a point where he may not come back if he’s selected. In some rankings he’s considered a Top 100 player in the draft class, which would have him selected sometime in the third or fourth round.

As a draft-eligible junior, he doesn’t have to go to the Majors if he’s drafted. He would have a little more than a week to agree to a deal with the team that selects him or he could return to OSU for his senior year. Without him, the Cowboys might have to look for more power in the transfer portal.