COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Baseball sophomore righty Tanner Houck (Collinsville, Ill.) was named to the ABCA/Rawlings NCAA Division I All-Midwest Region Second Team, announced Wednesday (June 15). Houck had a tremendous sophomore season, leading Mizzou in ERA, innings pitched, strikeouts and opponent batting while twice earning SEC Pitcher of the Week honors and National Player of the Week once. This is the first time Houck has been honored as an ABCA All-Region pick.
After a freshman season in which he earned unanimous Freshman All-America honors, Houck improved nearly every category of his stat line as a sophomore. He posted a team-best 2.99 ERA in 105.1 innings while striking out 106 batters against just 27 walks. Batters hit only .209 against him on the year and he won five of his 15 starts. He tossed three complete games, two of which were shutouts, and added another 9.0 inning shutout performance against Vanderbilt in which Mizzou lost 2-0 in extra innings. Houck struck out 10 or more batters in three of his 15 starts and nine or more in five starts.
Houck was named SEC Pitcher of the Week and Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week following a dominant start against Vanderbilt (3/26) in which he tossed 9.0 shutout innings, allowing just two hits as he carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning. He allowed just two fly balls over the entire nine innings and only one of those fly balls left the infield. In all, just one ball hit by Vanderbilt in the air or on the ground reached the outfield safely. He had 14 strikeouts, 10 groundouts, two pop outs and another out on the base paths for the 27 outs. Houck's 14 strikeouts in that start were the most by a Tiger since former Mizzou first round draft pick and current Minnesota Twin Kyle Gibson struck out 15 on April 3, 2009, vs. Oklahoma.
Houck was again named SEC Pitcher of the Week following a complete game shutout of Auburn (4/8) in which he allowed just four hits and a walk while striking out 10 batters, needing just 105 pitches to complete the shutout while facing just four batters over the minimum.
The ABCA All-America committee is chaired by Dean Ehehalt of Monmouth University and also includes head coaches Mike Stone (Massachusetts), Brian O'Connor (Virginia), Tim Corbin (Vanderbilt), Steve Jaksa (Central Michigan), Dan Heefner (Dallas Baptist), Tommy Raffo (Arkansas State) and George Horton (Oregon).
The ABCA All-America team was first recognized in 1949 and now includes nine divisions: NCAA Divisions I, II and III, NAIA, NJCAA Divisions I, II and III, Pacific Association Division, and high school. ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove teams were first recognized in 2007.
The ABCA, founded in 1945, is the primary professional organization for baseball coaches at the amateur level. Its more than 8,200 members represent all 50 states and 23 countries. Since its initial meeting of 27 college baseball coaches in June 1945, Association membership has broadened to include eight divisions: NCAA Division I, II and III, NAIA, NJCAA, Pacific Association Division, High School and Youth. The 73rd annual ABCA Convention will be held Jan. 5-8, 2017 in Anaheim, California.
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