May 22, 2018
ROSEMONT, Ill. - A pair from Penn State received Big Ten baseball honors, as freshman Parker Hendershot (Barton, N.Y.) was named to the All Big-Ten freshman team and senior pitcher Jake Pilewicz (Sewickley, Pa.) was named as a Sportsmanship Award honoree. The selections, made by the league's head coaches, were announced Tuesday afternoon by the conference office.
Hendershot is the first Nittany Lion named to the conference's all-freshman team since 2016. He finished his inaugural campaign batting .283 with a home run, six doubles and .379 on-base percentage to lead Big Ten freshman designated hitters, drawing 30 starts and appearing in 35 of Penn State's 49 games played,. His batting average and on-base percentage both ranked second on the team among players with at least 2.5 plate appearances per game, while his RBI total ranked third overall on the team and his RBI rate of .657 per game ranked second.
Originally a commit to the University at Buffalo, Hendershot signed with Penn State after Buffalo terminated its baseball program. He started his collegiate career batting 5-for-5 with a double and two RBIs over three games, and he concluded his rookie campaign as one of the team's hottest hitters, driving in a team-best 20 runs over the last 21 games and batting .320 to rank second over the same stretch.
Pilewicz received his first Sportsmanship Award, helping lead Penn State on and off the field. An Academic All-Big Ten selection throughout his career he received the team's "Diamond Lion Award" prior to the season for best exemplifying what it means to be a Penn Stater, leading the team's community outreach efforts. On the field during his senior campaign, Pilewicz made a career-high 19 appearances. Season highlights included three shutout innings against St. John's, 4 1/3 innings without allowing an earned run against Michigan, and two innings without allowing an earned run in a win at Rutgers.
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