Miller named ACC player of the year, Five Tigers earn All-ACC Honors

by CU Athletic Communications - Mon May 23 12:10:34 GMT-04:00 2011

Clemson, SC -

Brad Miller was named ACC Player-of-the-Year on Monday, voted on by the 12 ACC head coaches. The junior shortstop and Windermere, FL native, who leads the ACC in both batting average (.431) and on-base percentage (.536) by a wide margin, has totaled 11 doubles, three triples, four homers, 44 RBIs, 49 runs, a .605 slugging percentage, 37 walks, and a team-tying-high 21 stolen bases in 49 games (47 starts) in 2011. Miller became the first Tiger to be named ACC Player-of-the-Year since shortstop Khalil Greene, who won the award in 2002 on the way to earning national player-of-the-year honors. Miller also became Clemson’s 12th ACC Player-of-the-Year.

Five Tigers were also named First or Second-Team All-ACC. Miller and sophomore first-baseman Richie Shaffer were both named First-Team All-ACC, while junior outfielder Will Lamb, junior DH/UT Phil Pohl, and senior outfielder Jeff Schaus were named Second-Team All-ACC. Shaffer is batting .316 with 13 doubles, two triples, 10 homers, 45 RBIs, 58 runs, and a .445 on-base percentage.

Lamb has hit safely in 41 of his last 44 games and is batting .343 with 13 steals. Pohl is hitting .328 with 17 doubles, four homers, and 31 RBIs. Schaus, who was a First-Team All-ACC selection in 2009 and a Second-Team All-ACC pick in 2010, is hitting .322 with 17 doubles, two triples, 40 RBIs, and a .427 on-base percentage. Schaus became the first Tiger to be named All-ACC three times since Khalil Greene (2000-02).

Clemson’s Miller, Virginia’s Hultzen lead 2011 All-ACC Baseball Team

Tigers’ shortstop voted Player of the Year; Cavaliers’ ace repeats as Pitcher of the Year

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Clemson junior shortstop Brad MillerBrad Miller
Infielder
#13 6-1, 185
Windermere, FL
View Full Profile and Virginia junior pitcher Danny Hultzen head up the 2011 All-Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Team, as announced today by Commissioner John Swofford.

Miller was selected the ACC Player of the Year in a vote of the league’s 12 head coaches, while Hultzen was named the ACC Pitcher of the Year for the second consecutive season.

In addition, North Carolina freshman third baseman Colin Moran received ACC Freshman of the Year honors, while Virginia’s Brian O’Connor was voted the league’s Coach of the Year for the second year in a row.

Miller, a native of Windermere, Fla., leads the ACC in batting with a .431 average – 61 points higher than the next-highest hitter. Despite missing seven early-season games due to injury, Miller is tied for fourth in the conference in stolen bases (21). Eighteen of Miller’s 72 hits have gone for extra bases, and he has driven in 44 runs to help key the Tigers to a 39-17 overall record, a consensus national top-20 ranking and an RPI that ranks among the nation’s top 10.

With a .426 batting average in ACC games, Miller also led all players’ in that category. His selection as ACC Player of the Year increases Clemson’s number in that category to a conference-high 12. Miller is the first Tiger to receive the honor since Khalil Greene in 2002.

Hultzen becomes the first player to claim back-to-back ACC Pitcher of the Year honors since the award was established in 2005. It is the third major conference award for the Bethesda, Md., native, who also was named the 2009 ACC Freshman of the Year.

Hultzen has posted a 9-3 record and a 1.49 ERA while leading the Cavaliers (45-9) to a share of the ACC Coastal Division title and a No. 1 national ranking for much of the season. His 131 strikeouts lead the conference and rank second nationally. The junior lefthander owns a 29-5 career record for an .853 winning percentage that currently ranks 19th all-time among ACC pitchers.

Moran, of Rye, N.Y., leads the ACC with 67 RBI in 56 games. Moran is fourth in the conference in batting at .355, and his .389 mark in conference games ranked second only to Clemson’s Miller. Moran is just the fourth freshman in North Carolina school history to drive in at least 60 runs in a season, a major reason the Tar Heels carry a 44-12 mark into this week’s ACC Championship at Durham, N.C.

Virginia’s O’Connor received his second straight ACC Coach of the Year Award and his third overall after guiding the Cavaliers to at least a share of the Coastal Division title and the No. 1 seed in the ACC Championship for the second straight year. Virginia’s 45 wins tie for third-best in school history and are six behind the record of 51 set last season.

O’ Connor’s Cavaliers placed a league-high seven players on the All-ACC first and second teams, including five first-team selections. Atlantic Division Champion Florida State and Coastal Division Co-Champion Georgia Tech each saw six players voted to the team, while five were chosen from Clemson and four from North Carolina.

Virginia’s Hultzen, Florida State senior outfielder/pitcher Mike McGee and Clemson senior outfielder Jeff SchausJeff Schaus
Outfielder
#3 6-1, 205
Naples, FL
View Full Profile were each voted to the team for the third time. Florida State junior pitcher Sean Gilmartin, Georgia Tech junior third baseman Matt Skole and Yellow Jackets’ junior pitcher Jed Bradley were each honored for the second time.