Chris Stratton: MSU's First Consensus All-American Since 1985
Pitcher Chris Stratton, named this week to the 2012 American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings All-America Team, is the first Mississippi State baseball player since former MSU and Major League first baseman Will Clark to earn consensus All-America honors.
The Tupelo, Miss., native was previously named to the first-team honor units selected by Collegiate Baseball, Baseball America, the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) and Perfect Game. He is one of six collegiate standouts included on the first-team units of all five national listings in 2012.
Stratton, after registering a nation-leading 17 strikeouts against LSU in his seasonal debut as a starter in March, went on to compile an 11-2 record with 127 strikeouts and a 2.38 earned run average. The Bulldog right-hander and 2012 SEC Pitcher of the Year ranked first or second in the Southeastern Conference in each of the three categories. Also honored as the state's top collegian with the C Spire/Ferriss Trophy, Stratton was selected in the first round of the 2012 MLB First-Year Player Draft by San Francisco. He is expected to begin his professional career in early July with the Giants' Northwest League affiliate in Salem, Ore.
Mississippi State's famed "Thunder and Lightning" duo of Rafael Palmeiro and Will Clark earned consensus All-America honors in 1984 (Palmeiro) and 1985 (Clark).
2012
ABCA/RAWLINGS ALL-AMERICAN TEAM
First Team
P RHP Kevin Gausman, LSU
P
LHP Andrew Heaney, Oklahoma State
P LHP Carlos Rodon, North Carolina State
P RHP Chris Stratton, Mississippi State
Relief P RHP Jimmy Sherfy,
Oregon
C Mike Zunino, Florida
1B
Jayce Boyd, Florida State
1B Goose Kallunki, Utah Valley State
2B Alex
Yarbrough, Mississippi
SS Alex Mejia, Arizona
3B D.J. Peterson, New
Mexico
OF Mitch Hangier, Cal Poly
OF Travis Jankowski, Stony Brook
OF James Ramsey, Florida State
OF Raph Rhymes, LSU
DH Daniel Kassouf,
Appalachian State
UT Marco Gonzalez, Gonzaga
Second
Team
P RHP Kurt Heyer, Arizona
P RHP Tyler Johnson , Stony Brook
P
RHP Alex Kuedell, Oregon
P RHP Nick Petree, Missouri State
Relief P RHP
Stefan Lopez, Southeastern Louisiana
C Josh Ludy, Baylor
1B Christian
Walker, South Carolina
2B Michael Felton, Campbell
2B Joe Sever,
Pepperdine
SS Jimmy Rider, Kent
State
3B Kris Bryant, San Diego
3B Trenton Moses, Missouri State
OF
Michael Conforto, Oregon State
OF Marty Gantt, College of Charleston
OF
Tyler Naquin, Texas A & M
OF Danny Poma, Hofstra
OF Preston Tucker,
Florida
DH Nick Backlund, Mercer
UT Stephen Piscotty, Stanford
Third
Team
P RHP Mark Appel, Stanford
P RHP Pat Light, Monmouth
P RHP Chris
Rowley, Army
P RHP David Starn, Kent State
P LHP Josh Turley, Baylor
Relief P RHP Michael Morin, North Carolina
Relief P RHP Travis Parker,
St. Louis
Relief P LHP Dustin Quattrocchi, SIU Edwardsville
C Kevin Plawecki,
Purdue
1B Taylor Ard, Washington State
2B Brock Hebert, Southeastern Louisiana
2B Maxx Tissenbaum, Stony Brook
SS Chris Diaz, North Carolina State
SS Richie Rodriguez, Eastern Kentucky
3B Will Carmona, Stony Brook
3B
Pat Kivlehan, Rutgers
3B Richie
Shaffer, Clemson
OF Jeremy Baltz, St. John's
OF Preston Beck, UT
Arlington
OF Sean Bignall, Arkansas- Little Rock
OF Boomer Collins,
Dallas Baptist
OF Brandon Miller, Samford
DH Austin Heap, Utah Valley
State
UT Justin Guidry, Middle Tennessee