May 24, 2005

2005 All-Big Ten Baseball Teams (PDF)
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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Big Ten Conference announced its 2005 baseball awards Tuesday morning, and Illini Head Coach Richard "Itch" Jones and senior centerfielder Drew Davidson (West Des Moines, Iowa) took home two of the league's top honors. Jones was named Big Ten Coach of the Year for the second time in his career and the first since 1998, while Davidson was named Big Ten Player of the Year, becoming the sixth Illini to earn the accolade and the first since second baseman D.J. Svihlik in 1998. Four other Illini joined Davidson on the All-Big Ten first team and three were named to the second team.

Jones, who is in his 15th season at Illinois and his 39th overall as a head coach, led Illinois to its first Big Ten regular season title since 1998 this year with a 20-12 conference mark. The Illini finished ninth in the Big Ten in 2004 and had failed to reach the conference tournament for three straight years before the remarkable turnaround this season. Jones, an American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame inductee in 1999, is currently the eighth career winningest active coach in the NCAA with 1,240 career victories.

Davidson had a career year for the Orange and Blue, smashing 14 home runs and driving in 51 runs while batting .326 overall. In Big Ten play, he was even more outstanding, hitting .346 with eight homers, 10 doubles, 31 RBI and a league-leading .682 slugging percent. He ranked second in the conference in home runs, total bases (73) and runs scored (31), and was fourth in RBI and doubles (10), all while playing errorless defense for the Illini in centerfield during Big Ten action. The West Des Moines, Iowa, native was named Big Ten Player of the Week on April 4 after blasting a walk-off two-run home run to complete the first-ever Illini sweep of Ohio State. Davidson is currently third in on the Illinois career home run list with 39, just one behind Sean Mulligan for second place. He is also sixth on the total bases list (409) and eighth on both the UI career doubles (45) and games started lists (203).

Illinois dominated the All-Big Ten teams, placing five individuals on the first team and three on the second team. In addition to Davidson, who was one of only two unanimous first team selections, junior leftfielder Ryan Rogowski (Livonia, Mich.), senior first baseman Dusty Bensko (Pleasant Plains, Ill.), junior catcher Chris Robinson (Dorchester, Ontario) and junior starting pitcher Brian Blomquist (Carol Stream, Ill.) were all first team All-Conference picks.

Rogowski led the Big Ten in hits (85), triples (6) and stolen bases (30), and batted .381 overall for the season to lead Illinois and rank fifth in the conference. Bensko had a monster season, leading the Big Ten in home runs and RBI for all games (16, 66) and in Big Ten games (9, 40). Robinson earned first team All-Big Ten honors for the second consecutive year after hitting .352 with eight home runs and 36 RBI, but the defensive end is where he really stood out. Robinson led the Big Ten in pick-offs (7) and threw out 40.4% of would-be base-stealers from behind the plate. Blomquist had a big year after missing all of least season recovering from Tommy John elbow surgery, finishing 10-3 overall with a 3.26 ERA in a Big Ten-leading 96.2 innings of work. In conference play he led all starters with six wins as the Illini's Friday ace.

Three more Fighting Illini earned second team accolades as senior second baseman J.R. Kyes (Springfield, Ill.), sophomore designated hitter Mike Rohde (Brookfield, Wis.) and senior starting pitcher Jimmy Conroy (Rock Island, Ill.) were all selected to the second team.

Kyes stepped in as the starting second baseman and lead-off man this year and responded by leading the Big Ten in triples (4) and ranking in the top five in the league in total bases (70), home runs (6) and runs scored (30) during conference play. Rohde batted .385 to lead the Illini in Big Ten games and .356 overall, including a game-winning grand slam to give the Illini a 4-3 win at Indiana on April 23. Conroy posted a 5-2 Big Ten record and ranked third in the league in wins and innings pitched (53.2), and eighth in ERA (3.52) during league play.

Illinois' five first teamers are the most since the 1998 Big Ten Championship team placed six individuals on the first team, and the eight overall honorees are the most since the 2000 Fighting Illini also had eight players honored.

Jones' win as Coach of the Year makes him the sixth Illinois head coach to garner the conference honor. He joins Mark Johnson (wrestling), Bruce Weber (men's basketball), Bob Starkell (women's gymnastics), Craig Tiley (men's tennis) and Gary Winckler (women's track and field).

Top-seeded Illinois will begin its Big Ten Tournament title quest on Thursday night at 7:05 p.m. against the lower seeded winner of the two Wednesday games (No. 4 Michigan vs. No. 5 Ohio State and No. 3 Iowa vs. No. 6 Minnesota).

The 2005 All-Big Ten Baseball Teams

FIRST TEAM
1B - Dusty Bensko, ILL
2B - Chris Getz, MICH
SS - Mitch Hilligoss, PUR
3B - David Hrncirik, MINN
OF - Drew Davidson, ILL#
OF - Ryan Rogowski, ILL
OF - Mike Rabin, OSU
DH - Pat McMahon, NU
C - Chris Robinson, ILL
SP - Brian Blomquist, ILL
SP - Jim Brauer, MICH
SP - Michael Penn, MICH
SP - Scott Byrnes, PUR#
RP - Tim Gudex, IOWA

SECOND TEAM
1B - Kyle Bohm, MICH
2B - J.R. Kyes, ILL
SS - Matt Fornasiere, MINN
3B - John Hunter, PUR
OF - Jay Brant, IND*
OF - Nate Price, IOWA
OF - Matt Butler, MICH
OF - Ryan Sontag, MSU*
DH - Mike Rohde, ILL
C - Jeff Kunkel, MICH
SP - Jimmy Conroy, ILL
SP - Matt Loberg, MINN
SP - Sean Stidfole, PSU
SP - Mitch Pruemer, PUR
RP - Derek Feldkamp, MICH

THIRD TEAM
1B - Andy Hunter, MINN
2B - Jason White, IOWA
SS - Andy Lytle, IOWA*
SS - Troy Krider, MSU*
3B - Scott Gaffney, PSU
OF - Reggie Watson, IND
OF - Ryan Basham, MSU
DH - Zach Boswell, IND
C - Kris Welker, IOWA
SP - Craig Brookes, MSU
SP - Dan DeLucia, OSU
SP - Alan Stidfole, PSU
SP - Brent Coudron, PUR
RP - John Gaub, MINN

Player of the Year: Drew Davidson, ILL
Pitcher of the Year: Jim Brauer, MICH
Freshman of the Year: Ryan Sontag, MSU
Coach of the Year: Richard "Itch" Jones, ILL

Big Ten Sportsmanship Award Honorees:
Chris Robinson, ILL; Ryan Parker, IND;Andy Lytle, IOWA; Matt Butler, MICH;Tim Day, MSU; David Hrncirik, MINN; Pat McMahon, NU; Cody Caughenbaugh, OSU; Clint Eury, PSU; Mitch Hilligoss, PUR.

# Unanimous selection * Additional honorees due to ties