Student-athletes from Baylor, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State garnered individual honors to headline the 2020 preseason All-Big 12 Baseball awards. 

Baylor infielder Nick Loftin was tabbed the Preseason Player of the Year, while Oklahoma right-hander Cade Cavalli received the Preseason Pitcher of the Year accolade. Oklahoma State’s Kaden Polcovich and Bryce Osmond were named Preseason Newcomer of the Year and Preseason Freshman of the Year, respectively. The honorees were selected in a vote of the league’s head coaches. Coaches could not vote for their own players. 

Eighteen individuals were selected to the preseason ledger and seven of the league’s teams were represented on the Preseason All-Big 12 Team. Eleven of the 18 preseason selections were All-Big 12 First Team or Second Team performers a year ago. Texas Tech led the way with six selections, followed by Oklahoma’s four. Baylor, Texas and West Virginia each had two honorees apiece, while Kansas and Oklahoma State had one representative. 

Loftin, a 2019 All-Big 12 First Team selection, was sixth in the Conference with 76 hits and 55 runs scored last season. He batted .323 in 53 games for the Bears and led the team with 25 multi-hit games. The junior shortstop returns as the toughest-to-strike out amongst all returning Big 12 batters, only doing so once every 13.8 at-bats. He also played for USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team last summer, hitting .292 in 11 games.

OU’s Cavalli compiled a 5-3 record on the mound in 2019 with a 3.28 ERA, good for sixth in the Big 12. The junior racked up 59 strikeouts in 60.1 innings last season in addition to tallying 72 at-bats, in which he hit .319 with four home runs and 17 RBI. He made an appearance for USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team last summer and threw 2.2 innings with one punchout.

Polcovich comes to Oklahoma State after stops at Northwest Florida State and Kentucky. He hit .273 with 12 home runs and 38 RBI in 53 games for the Raiders as a sophomore last season. Additionally, he was named to the 2019 All-Cape Cod League Team.

A right-handed pitcher from Jenks, Oklahoma, Osmond will make his collegiate debut for the Cowboys after he was rated the No. 53 overall draft prospect in 2019 by MLB Pipeline. He led Jenks to the Class 6A state semifinals last year, going 7-1 with a 1.64 ERA and 89 strikeouts in 51 innings in his senior campaign.

The Big 12 preseason poll will be announced on Thursday, January 30. All nine league teams open the season on Friday, February 14. 

* Unanimous Choice