Oregon State left-handed pitcher Cooper Hjerpe and outfielder Jacob Melton went a perfect 7-for-7 in All-American honors in 2022. The duo were both named First-Team All-Americans by Baseball America on Monday, while right-handed pitcher Ben Ferrer was named to the organization's third team.
In addition to Baseball America, Hjpere and Melton were named first-team selections by the College Baseball Foundation, Collegiate Baseball, D1Baseball.com, the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA), the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) and Perfect Game. The duo mark the fifth and sixth players in OSU history to be named first team by five or more, joining Michael Conforto (2014), Jake Thompson (2017), Trevor Larnach (2018) and Adley Rutschman (2019).
For Ferrer, it marked his second third-team honor as he was also recognized by D1Baseball.com last week.
Hjerpe sported an 11-2 record and 2.53 earned run average in 2022, leading the Pac-12 Conference in both categories. He also led the nation with a school-record 161 strikeouts, becoming the first Beaver to do so. His 11 wins, meanwhile, were one shy of tying for the nation's lead.
Hjerpe struck out 10 or more in eight of his 17 starts, including 17 on April 1 versus Stanford, equaling Mason Smith's school-record set in 1994. Hjerpe also worked at least five innings in 16 of his 17 starts; he posted quality starts 10 times.
Melton batted .360 and hit 22 doubles with 17 home runs. The Medford, Ore., native drove in 83 runs, which tied Adley Rutschman (2018) for the most ever in a single season at Oregon State. He did set the Oregon State single-season record with 175 total bases, and he also swiped 21 bases.
Ferrer went 4-0 in 2022, posting a 1.72 earned run average. Opponents batted just .176 against him, and Ferrer allowed 38 hits in 62 2/3 innings. He picked up three saves and recorded 78 strikeouts.
The Beavers ended the 2022 season with four All-Americans as outfielder Justin Boyd was named a second-teamer by the NCBWA. The 2022 Beavers join OSU's 2006 (four), 2017 (four) and 2018 (six) teams with four or more All-Americans. OSU has had at least one All-American in every year since 2011.
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Source: https://osubeavers.com/news/2022/6/27/ferrer-hjerpe-melton-named-all-americans-by-baseball-america.aspx
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