Bowling Green freshman DJ Newman was named to the 2023 D1Baseball Division I Freshman All-America First Team, announced Friday.
According to the BGSU Baseball Record Book, he is the first player in program history to be named to the D1Baseball list after also being the first player named to the NCBWA list and the fifth player in program history named to the Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-America team.
Newman was one of 18 players, and the only two-player utility player, named to the first team with D1Baseball naming a first and a second team. He was also the lone representative from the Mid-American Conference named to the lists. As for non-Power 5 players, Newman was one of six named to the first team.
“DJ had an outstanding freshman season balancing both offensive and pitching duties,” said head coach Kyle Hallock. “This award correctly recognizes his ability amongst his peers and he is very deserving. We look forward to seeing how he improves going into the 2024 season.”
As a hitter for the Falcons, Newman led the Falcons and all MAC freshman while finishing fourth in the MAC overall for batting average (.383). Similarly, he led the team and finished third in the MAC, second among freshman, for on-base percentage (.481). Newman filled out his stat line at the plate by finishing second on the team in slugging percentage (.495), fourth in hits (41) and fifth in runs scored (28).
As for on the mound, Newman made 15 appearances with three starts, including eight innings of shutout baseball against Toledo in his final start of the season (May 18). In the start against the Rockets, Newman struck out a season-high eight, gave up just two hits, faced only three batters over the minimum and retired the final 17 batters he faced. Over the course of the season, he maintained a 3.49 ERA, third on the team and second among pitchers with at least 10.0+ innings pitched. He struck out 33 batters over 28.2 innings of work and walked just five batters, the fewest among pitchers with 10.0+ innings on the team.
