Baseball
AS EXPECTED, CLEMSON SOPHOMORE MAX WAGNER NAMED ACC PLAYER OF THE YEAR
- 2022-05-26 17:10:53
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The news out of Greensboro came as no surprise to yours truly. In fact, I reported weeks ago that the sophomore from Wisconsin was firmly in the hunt for National Player of the Year, and in my opinion, there is only one player with a better resume for college baseball's most prestigious award. That's Ivan Melendez of Texas.
Wagner and the Tigers made the ACC Tournament by the skin of their teeth and will face No.8 seed UNC on Tuesday night at 7:00 on Charlotte. Then they will play No.1 seed VA Tech, which is ranked as high as No.2 nationally, to conclude pool play.
CLEMSON, S.C. - Sophomore Max Wagner was named ACC Player-of-the-Year, announced Monday by the ACC. Wagner is Clemson’s 14th ACC Player-of-the-Year and first since 2016 (Seth Beer).
Wagner also earned First-Team All-ACC honors. Two Tiger sophomores, Mack Anglin (SP) and Blake Wright (2B), earned Third-Team All-ACC accolades.
Wagner (Green Bay, Wis.) is hitting .379 with 26 homers, one triple, 15 doubles, 74 RBIs, 65 runs, an .867 slugging percentage, a .506 on-base percentage and two steals in 56 games (52 starts) in 2022. He is among the national leaders in home runs, slugging percentage and OPS, and he is tied for the ACC lead in homers. His 26 home runs, one behind the Tiger record of 27, are also tied for fourth most in a season in ACC history.
He has hit a home run every 7.5 at bats in 2022, well ahead of the school record of 8.9, and his .867 slugging percentage is also best in a season in school history. He has reached base via a hit, walk or hit-by-pitch in each of the last 40 games as well.
Anglin (Marengo, Ohio) has been the Tigers’ Friday starter all season. He is 6-5 with a 4.11 ERA, .217 opponents’ batting average and 74 strikeouts in 72.1 innings pitched over 14 starts in 2022. His 10.61 strikeouts-per-nine-innings-pitched mark in his career is fourth highest in Clemson history.
Wright (Belleair, Fla.) exploded at the plate in early April to become one of the team’s best hitters. He is hitting .352 with 10 homers, nine doubles, 38 RBIs, 28 runs, a .597 slugging percentage and .398 on-base percentage in 42 games (37 starts) in 2022. He also has a .980 fielding percentage at second base, committing only three errors in 152 chances.
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