IRVINE, Calif. - Four baseball standouts from The Big West were among those recognized as another group of postseason awards have been announced this week ahead of Friday’s start to the 2022 NCAA Men’s College World Series in Omaha, Neb.
Cal Poly star Brooks Lee was named Thursday as the winner of the Brooks Wallace Award, presented by the College Baseball Foundation to the nation’s top collegiate shortstop.
Earlier in the week on Wednesday, Lee’s Mustang teammate, mound ace Drew Thorpe, was chosen to the Perfect Game/Rawlings All-America First Team, with Lee on the second team. Thorpe was also selected to the 25-person first team of the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association’s (NCBWA) 23rd annual All-America squads. On Friday morning, the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) put Lee and Thorpe on its 20-player All-America first team.
The week began with UC Santa Barbara right-handed starting pitcher Ryan Gallagher being recognized as one of 34 NCBWA Freshman All-Americans. Lee, Thorpe, and UC Irvine relief extraordinaire Gordon Ingebritson on Wednesday were all honored as part of the 16-player ABCA/Rawlings All-West Region First Team.
Lee hit .357 and slugged .664 with a .462 on-base percentage, 1.126 OPS, 56 runs, 25 doubles, 15 home runs, 55 RBI and 46 walks. He led The Big West in most of those categories and fell narrowly short of the league’s Triple Crown, finishing second in batting and long balls.
Lee was the only shortstop in the country who made the list of six Brooks Wallace Award finalists in both 2021 and 2022. The third-year sophomore out of San Luis Obispo is the unanimous Big West Field Player of the Year after sharing that honor in 2021.
The Brooks Wallace Award is a tribute to Brooks Wallace, a slick-fielding shortstop at Texas Tech from 1977-80 who passed away at age 27 after a courageous battle with leukemia. Prior to 2009, it recognized the national player of the year. Lee is The Big West’s third honoree, following current UC Irvine head coach Ben Orloff as the ‘Eaters’ shortstop in 2009, and Cal State Fullerton catcher and long-time major leaguer Kurt Suzuki in the award’s inaugural year in 2004.
Thorpe is one of 17 student-athletes, seven of them pitchers, on the Perfect Game All-America First Team. The unanimous Big West Pitcher of the Year went 10-1 with a 2.32 ERA and league-best 149 strikeouts against only 25 walks in 104.2 innings pitched, while opponents batted just .175 with 65 hits. The third-year collegian out of Washington, Utah, put together 14 consecutive quality starts after Opening Day, and reached double-figure strikeouts nine times, with 11 in a complete-game shutout over Harvard on March 11. His season high was 15 punch-outs.
Ingebritson, a graduate student, led The Big West with 32 appearances, all out of the bullpen. The right-hander from Sun Valley was 6-0 with three saves and league bests of a 1.75 ERA and 0.83 WHIP. He fanned 62 and walked just five over 66.2 frames, with opposing batters hitting only .207. Ingebritson ranks second nationally in Division I in strikeout-to-walk ratio (12.40) and walks allowed per nine innings (0.68), third in WHIP and eighth in ERA. He did not give up a run in 23 of his 32 stints.
Gallagher, The Big West Freshman Pitcher of the Year, made it onto the 17-member NCBWA Freshman All-America Second Team. He drew 15 starts among 16 outings, aiding The Big West champion Gauchos to a 13-3 mark when he threw, including eight straight wins before a season-ending regional loss at No. 2 Stanford on June 5. The Granite Bay product went 8-0 with a 3.25 ERA and 67 strikeouts over 83.0 innings.
Ingebritson, Lee and Thorpe were all voted to the All-Big West First Team, with Gallagher earning a second-team spot. Lee and Thorpe were semifinalists for both USA Baseball’s Golden Spikes Award, as well as the NCBWA’s Dick Howser Trophy.
Thorpe is now a four-time All-American, all this season, having previously been chosen alongside Lee to Collegiate Baseball’s first team. Lee is a three-timer for 2022, with two more top national publications in Baseball America and D1Baseball yet to unveil their awards. He was a five-time postseason All-American in 2021.