Tiffin, Ohio – June 2, 2011 – The 2011 baseball season has come to a close for Heidelberg University with a host of honors from the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA). The ABCA announced its 2011 All-Americans and Golden Glove honorees in conjunction with the NCAA Division III Baseball Championships.
Landing a spot on the ABCA All-American Third team was senior short stop Jason Lash (Strongsville, Ohio / Strongsville), senior closer Andy Lowe (Fort Wayne, Ind. / Carroll) and junior right fielder Ricardo Lizcano (Toledo, Ohio / Roy C. Start). Honored as Golden Glove recipients were Lash and sophomore catcher Jordan Martin (Powell, Ohio / Olentangy Liberty).
Lash is picking up his second All-American honor of his career. A season ago he was named to the ABCA All-American Second Team. In his final season at short stop Lash was named to the Mideast Region and the Ohio Athletic Conference First Teams. It was the fourth straight year he was named to the OAC First Team and third time he landed on the Mideast Region First Team. His Golden Glove honor is the first of his career. For his efforts in the classroom he was named to the Capital One Academic All-District IV First Team and the Academic All-OAC First Team. Lash was just the second player at the Berg to earn first team academic recognition from the conference and the first to earn academic all-district honors on three occasions.
At the plate, Lash was second on the team with a .369 batting average. He led the way with 20 doubles and was third with 66 hits and 46 runs scored. Defensively he boasted a .961 fielding percentage and helped to turn 34 double plays.
A solid presence on the mound late in games over the last four years has been Lowe. He is picking up his sixth All-American honor of his career, which combines his ABCA and D3Baseball.com accolades. Last week he was named to the D3Baseball.com All-American First Team. He will graduate as the NCAA Division III career saves leader (44) and the leader in relief appearances (110). Each season he set a new Heidelberg single season mark for saves, leaving with 14 in his senior year. This season he was named to the Mideast Region and OAC First Teams. He also garnered a spot on the Academic All-OAC First Team and the Capital One Academic All-District IV Second Team.
In 33 appearances he led the pitching staff with a 2.08 earned run average and 14 saves. Lowe recorded 58 strike outs in 65.0 innings of work, while posting a 5-1 record.
Making a name for himself in the nation and the OAC over the last two seasons has been Lizcano. A versatile player, Lizcano has helped to anchor the outfield and has combined to claim four All-American honors from the ABCA and D3Baseball.com. His spot on the ABCA All-American this year joins his nod on the D3Baseball.com All-American Honorable Mention Team. Also this season, Lizcano was named to the Mideast Region and OAC First Teams for the second consecutive season.
Lizcano led the Berg in a host of statistical categories including batting average (.402), hits (70), runs scored (55), home runs (9), slugging percentage (.661), walks (40) and on base percentage (.522). In the field he had a .968 fielding percentage with 84 putouts.
In his first year behind the plate was Martin. He started all 46 games that he appeared in and helped to lead the Berg on the field. He boasted a .994 fielding percentage with 318 putouts and 38 assists with just two errors. He threw out 21 would be base stealers and helped to turn four double plays. This is the first postseason honor in his career.