TIFFIN, Ohio—Senior right fielder Ricardo Lizcano (Toledo/Start) headlines a group of seven Student Princes representing Heidelberg University on the 2012 All-Ohio Athletic Conference Baseball Team, announced today by the league office. Lizcano earned first-team honors for the third straight season, senior left fielder Ross Pruitt (Elletsville, Ind./Edgewood), senior right-handed pitcher Daniel Brannum (Jamestown/Greeneview) and freshman righty Ryan Minteer (Venetia, Pa./Peters Township) were named to the second team, and junior catcher Jordan Martin (Powell/Olentangy Liberty), freshman first baseman Eric Monroe (Chagrin Falls/Kenston) and senior center fielder Elvin Williams (Euclid) garnered honorable mention.
The Berg’s seven representatives rank second among league teams, behind only defending NCAA champion and two-time defending OAC champion Marietta College.
Lizcano, who was the 2010 OAC Player of the Year as a sophomore, was the only Student Prince to play in and start all 44 games and hit .346 with a league-leading eight home runs and team-highs of 48 runs batted-in and 39 runs scored to go with an OAC-best .635 slugging percentage while splitting time between shortstop and right field. He ended his career as one of the most decorated players in the Heidelberg baseball program, having set several single-season records in 2010, and setting new school career marks for home runs (34), walks (111), total bases (435) and slugging percentage (.683), while tying for the career record with 16 triples, and finishing as a .394 career hitter.
Pruitt made the transition from the pitching staff in his three previous seasons to being an everyday player this year and went on to hit .358 with 38 RBI, tied Lizcano for the team lead with 39 runs scored, and was second on the team with 13 doubles. He recorded a team-high 20 multi-hit games in 40 games played, including seven outings with three or more safeties. Pruitt also made four appearances on the mound early in the season.
Brannum set career-highs in several categories, including wins (seven), appearances (23), innings pitched (46.1) and strikeouts (38), and ranked among the OAC leaders in all four categories, while recording an earned run average of 4.66. Brannum was the only pitcher on the staff with more than 10 appearances not to suffer a loss.
In his first season as a collegian, Minteer went 4-3 in 12 appearances, including nine starts, and tied for second on the team with 36 strikeouts over 60.0 innings pitched, which also ranks second. He earned his first career win on March 16 in a 6-5 edging of Manchester (Ind.) College and hurled three complete games, including his first career shutout on April 11 at Ohio Northern University.
Martin backed up a Gold Glove campaign behind the plate as a sophomore in 2011 with a team-high .990 fielding percentage and just two errors in 193 chances, while catching 14 of 48 base runners trying to steal (29.2 percent). After hitting just .194 last season, Martin upped his average to .263 this season with 13 RBI, 13 runs and two doubles, and led the team with nine sacrifices.
Monroe led the team in hitting as a freshman at a .368 clip with 28 RBI, two homers, eight doubles and 26 runs scored. In last weekend’s OAC tournament, Monroe batted .500 (9-for-18) with three doubles, a RBI and five runs scored en route to all-tournament honors.
Williams batted .299 with five doubles, three triples, 26 RBI and 29 runs scored. He led the squad with 11 stolen bases in 12 attempts, was second on the team with 23 walks, and recorded a career-high 11-game hitting streak earlier this season. Williams fielded .982 and led the outfield with 103 putouts and six assists, and batted .400 (6-for-15) with seven RBI and two runs scored and hit both of his home runs of the season in the OAC tournament and also garnered all-tournament accolades.
Heidelberg finished the 2012 campaign 27-17 overall and 11-7 in the OAC to earn the No. 3 seed in the tournament, where it advanced to the championship game for the fifth straight season, but fell to Marietta, 4-3, after mounting a ninth-inning rally.