Hunter Named to Baseball America's Freshman All-America Team
7/2/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- University of Alabama freshman right-hander Tommy Hunter (Indianapolis, Ind.) was named to the 2006 Baseball America Freshman All-American team, the publication announced on Friday.
Hunter, who set Alabama records for wins and innings pitched by a freshman in 2006, was a second-team All-America pick by Baseball America. Earlier this summer, he was named to the Louisville Slugger Collegiate Baseball newspaper Freshman All-America team. He was also named to the 2006 Freshman All-SEC team as selected by the league's 12 head coaches.
Hunter finished the season with a 10-3 record and 3.30 ERA. He worked 117 1/3 innings and allowed 115 hits, 52 runs and 43 earned runs, with 22 walks and 80 strikeouts. He set the UA single-season freshman record with 10 wins, breaking the previous record of eight wins held by B.J. Green (1998), Scott Murphy (1999), Taylor Tankersley (2002) and Wade LeBlanc (2004). He also set the UA single-season record for innings pitched as he surpassed the previous record of 112 1/3 innings held by Wade LeBlanc in 2004.
Alabama posted an 11-5 record in his 16 starts this season. Hunter made his Crimson Tide debut against No. 27 Winthrop (3.1 IP, 4 H, ER, 2 K) on Feb. 12 and became the third UA pitcher in the last four years to win his debut. He was a three-time SEC Freshman of the Week winner vs. Florida International (Feb. 26), Ole Miss (March 26) and South Carolina (April 9).
Hunter notched his 9th win of the season as UA clinched a share of the 2006 SEC Championship at Tennessee (9 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K) on May 20. He lost his shutout bid with one out in the 9th inning.
The 2006 Freshman All-America teams as selected by the staff of Baseball America.
FIRST TEAM
C Tim Federowicz, North Carolina
1B Justin Smoak, South Carolina
2B Jemile Weeks, Miami
3B Pedro Alvarez, Vanderbilt
SS Brandon Crawford, UCLA
OF Aaron Luna, Rice
OF Warren McFadden, Tulane
OF Jared Prince, Washington State
DH Alex Buchholz, Delaware
UT Luis Flores, Houston
SP Christian Friedrich, Eastern Kentucky
SP Aaron Shafer, Wichita State
SP Jacob Thompson, Virginia
SP Alex Wilson, Winthrop
RP Kyle Weiland, Notre Dame
SECOND TEAM
C Preston Paramore, Arizona State
1B Allan Dykstra, Wake Forest
2B David Adams, Vriginia
3B Kevin McAvoy, Maine
SS Gordon Beckham, Georgia
OF Mike Bianucci, Auburn
OF Jericho Jones, Louisiana Tech
OF Kyle Russell, Texas
DH Ike Davis, Arizona State
UT J.B. Shuck, Ohio State
SP Chris Fetter, Michigan
SP Scott Gorgen, UC Irvine
SP Tommy Hunter, Alabama
SP Brian Matusz, San Diego
RP Brett Hunter, Pepperdine
