Cincinnati infielder Kerrington Cross was named the Big 12 Player of the Year and Houston’s Antoine Jean was tabbed the Big 12 Pitcher of the Year as the Conference unveiled its 2025 All-Big 12 Baseball Awards. The honorees were selected in a vote by the league’s head coaches, who could not vote for their own players.
Kansas’ Dan Fitzgerald was picked as Coach of the Year after leading the Jayhawks to program bests in both Big 12 series wins and series sweeps. Arizona State’s Matt King and Oklahoma State’s Harrison Bodendorf shared Co-Newcomer of the Year honors while TCU’s Sawyer Strosnider earned Big 12 Freshman of the Year. Arizona’s Tony Pluta rounded out the awards as the Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
A total of 19 student-athletes were named to the All-Big 12 First Team, headlined by the unanimously-selected Cross.
Cross led the Conference with a .414 batting average in 51 games and is seeking to become the second qualified Big 12 player to hit at least .400 in a season since 2011, joining WVU’s JJ Wetherholt, who hit .449 in 2023 en route to player of the year honors. The Brownsburg, Indiana native boasts the fifth highest on-base percentage in the country (.538) and is the first Bearcat to win the award in Cincinnati’s second year in the Conference.
Jean recorded the lowest opponent batting average (.162) in the Big 12 as he held batters to 36 hits in 222 at-bats in 20 appearances. He led the Conference and ranked second nationally in hits allowed per nine innings (5.14) and strikeouts per nine innings (14.86). He is the first Cougar to win a yearly Big 12 award and the first reliever to be selected as Big 12 Pitcher of the Year.
King led the Sun Devils with 27 multi-hit games in the regular season as he posted the second-best batting average in the Big 12 (.401). In Conference play, he was the league’s leading hitter with a .424 batting average and was the only player to break the 50-hit mark in league play with 53 hits in 30 games.
Bodendorf finished with a 10-1 record in 15 appearances as he led the league in wins. His 2.43 ERA was tied for the second-best in the league while he held batters to a .194 batting average, also second-best in the Conference. He is the third Cowboy in five years to win a share of Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, joining Christian Encarnacion-Strand in 2021 and Tyler Wulfert in 2023.
Strosnider became the first Horned Frog since Brayden Taylor in 2021 to earn Big 12 Freshman of the Year. The freshman outfielder tallied nine triples this season, tied for the most in the country. He also tied for the third-most runs in Conference games with 34 runs scored in 29 games.
Pluta was named the 2025 Big 12 Baseball Scholar-Athlete of the Year after leading the Big 12 with 11 saves while maintaining a 3.92 GPA. The aerospace engineering major from Palatine, Illinois, finished 16 games while appearing in 23 total games for the Wildcats.
Fitzgerald led the Jayhawks to the most wins in program history as KU finished 42-14 overall. Out of the 42 wins, the 20 road wins and 20 Big 12 wins both set program records. Kansas’ eight consecutive road wins are tied for the most in program history and have helped the Jayhawks secure the No. 2 seed in the 2025 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship, the best seeding ever for KU.
Of the Year
Player – Kerrington Cross, Cincinnati
Pitcher – Antoine Jean, Houston
Co-Newcomers – Matt King, Arizona State & Harrison Bodendorf, Oklahoma St.
Freshman – Sawyer Strosnider, TCU
Scholar-Athlete – Tony Pluta, Arizona
Coach – Dan Fitzgerald, Kansas
All-Big 12 First Team
C: Logan Sauve, West Virginia
IF: Matt King, Arizona State
IF: Tyriq Kemp, Baylor
IF: Kerrington Cross, Cincinnati*
IF: Brady Ballinger, Kansas
IF: Core Jackson, Utah
OF: Isaiah Jackson, Arizona State
OF: Sawyer Strosnider, TCU
OF: Damian Bravo, Texas Tech
OF: Logan Hughes, Texas Tech
DH: Noah Franco, TCU
UT: Landon Hairston, Arizona State
SP: Harrison Bodendorf, Oklahoma State
SP: Tommy LaPour, TCU
SP: Colter McAnelly, Utah
SP: Griffin Kirn, West Virginia
RP: Cole Carlon, Arizona State
RP: Gabe Craig, Baylor
RP: Antoine Jean, Houston
*- unanimous selection
All-Big 12 Second Team
C: Jack Natili, Cincinnati
C: Nolan Traeger, TCU
IF: Mason White, Arizona
IF: Kyle Walker, Arizona State
IF: Antonio Jimenez, UCF
IF: Maximus Martin, Kansas State
IF: Robin Villeneuve, Texas Tech
OF: Jackson Hauge, Kansas
OF: Keegan O’Connor, Kansas State
OF: Chase Brunson, TCU
OF: Kyle West, West Virginia
DH: Dariel Osoria, Kansas
UT: Karson Bowen, TCU
SP: Ben Jacobs, Arizona State
SP: Cooper Moore, Kansas
SP: Sean Youngerman, Oklahoma State
SP: Jack Kartsonas, West Virginia
RP: Tony Pluta, Arizona
RP: Sean Youngerman, Oklahoma State
RP: Jack Cebert, Texas Tech
Ties resulted in two catchers on the second team.
All- Freshman Team
Smith Bailey, Arizona
Landon Hairston, Arizona State
Pearson Riebock, Baylor
Quinton Coats, Cincinnati
Aj Evasco, Kansas St.
Mason Brassfield, TCU
Kade Eudy, TCU
Noah Franco, TCU
Sawyer Strosnider, TCU
Nolan Traeger, TCU
Austen Roellig, Utah
Gavin Kelly, West Virginia
Honorable Mention:
Arizona: Adonys Guzman, Owen Kramkowski, Brendan Summerhill, Aaron Walton
Arizona State: Brandon Compton, Josiah Cromwick, Lucas Kelly, Jack Martinez, Jacob Tobias, Kien Vu
Baylor: Pearson Riebock, Travis Sanders
BYU: Parker Goff, Ryder Robinson, Cooper Vest
UCF: Edian Espinal, Dylan King, DeAmez Ross, Andrew Williamson
Cincinnati: Kellen O'Connor, Nathan Taylor, Landyn Vidourek
Kansas: Brady Counsell (INF/UT)
Kansas State: Seth Dardar (INF/DH), Jacob Frost, James Guyette
Oklahoma State: Colin Brueggemann, Ian Daugherty, Mario Pesca, Nolan Schubart, Brayden Smith,
TCU: Mason Brassfield, Kade Eudy, Anthony Silva
Utah: Austen Roellig
West Virginia: Reese Bassinger, Chase Meyer, Jace Rinehart, Sam White