Toledo senior outfielder Ben Hammer and junior outfielder Tyler Grogg were named 2013 American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings All-Mideast Region second-team selections, the NCAA Mideast Region All-American Committee announced Thursday.
UT’s two honorees are the most in a single season in program history. Hammer and Grogg become the 14th and 15th Rockets to earn all-region accolades.
The All-Mideast Region Team was voted on by the region’s head coaches.
Hammer batted .333 (65 for 195) with 28 runs scored, 12 doubles, a squad-best four home runs and a team-high 48 RBI this spring. The 2013 first-team All-Mid-American Conference recipient reached base in 44 of 52 contests, tied for the third-highest total on the squad. He ranked second in the MAC in RBI, seventh in batting average and ninth in slugging percentage (.467). Hammer also led the Midnight Blue and Gold in total bases (91), home runs, RBI, multi-RBI games (14), sacrifice flies (6) and walks (22), as well as ranked second in two-base hits and slugging percentage, tied for second in batting average, third in hits, on-base percentage (.396), multi-hit contests (21) and thefts (6), and fourth in runs scored.
The 2013 second-team Academic All-America honoree wrapped up his Toledo career eighth in school history in career hits (215), tied for eighth in doubles (39), and tied for ninth in RBI (126).
Grogg was nothing short of sensational at the top of the Rockets’ lineup in 2013, hitting a team-high .357 (74 for 207) with a squad-best 62 runs scored, seven doubles, one triple, one home run, 20 RBI and a team-high 36 stolen bases, most in school history in a single season. The Holland, Ohio, native led the MAC in runs scored (21st nationally; sixth in runs per game, 1.17) and thefts (sixth nationally; sixth in steals per game, 0.68), as well as ranked second in batting average and on-base percentage (.441) and fourth in hits. He also finished first on the team in batting average, runs scored, thefts and on-base percentage (.444); second in hits, walks (21) and hit by pitches (13); third in total bases (86), slugging percentage (.415) and sacrifice bunts (12); and fifth in RBI.
The 2013 College Sports Madness All-MAC first-team recipient reached base in 47 games this spring, second-highest total on the team, and hit safely in 41 contests, posting a squad-best 25 multi-hit and three multi-RBI efforts.
Grogg was at his best at the MAC Tournament, batting .429 (9 for 21) with a team-high eight runs scored, a squad-best 12 total bases, and a team-high five thefts to earn all-tourney team accolades.
The third-year letter winner sits first in school history in stolen bases (36, 2013) and fourth in runs scored (62, 2013) in the single-season record book.
