Indiana baseball players Devin Taylor, Brayden Risedorph and Craig Yoho were named Freshman All-Americans by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Wednesday. Now, in back-to-back seasons, the publication has awarded three Hoosiers with Freshman All-America honors. Brock Tibbitts, Carter Mathison and Josh Pyne were named last year.
Taylor was named the program’s third-ever Big Ten Freshman of the Year this season. The outfielder is the first freshman position player in program history to earn All-Big Ten First Team honors. Taylor’s 59 runs batted in this season are the most for an Indiana rookie, while his 16 home runs are second on the program’s single-season freshman charts to Mathison’s 19 in 2022. Taylor became an everyday starter three weeks after the season opener February 17.
Risedorph was the second Indiana freshman pitcher in history to reach 60 strikeouts this season. He made five starts across 25 appearances, while posting his team-leading six saves. The freshman right-hander tossed 2⅓ zero-earned-run innings in Indiana’s season-ending loss Monday at Kentucky in the NCAA Tournament. Risedorph labored 82 pitches on June 2 to receive an individual win, holding out against West Virginia’s lineup, as the Hoosiers scored five ninth-inning runs to win their Lexington regional-opening contest 12-6.
Yoho suffered an injury weeks into his rookie season at the University of Houston in 2019. Then, the 2020 season was canceled due to COVID-19. Upon transferring to Indiana, Yoho missed the 2021 and 2022 seasons due to elbow and knee injuries. The right-hander moved from playing the field to the mound between those two seasons. In Yoho’s first complete season, his elevated spin rates on pitches aided striking out 63 batters in 37 innings –– 46% of batters faced.
