Nebraska Baseball: Chad Luensmann Wins Big Ten Freshman Of The The Year

The Nebraska baseball team couldn’t have had the kind of regular season it did if freshman Chad Luensmann hadn’t stepped into the team’s closer role.

Today, the Big Ten conference announced Luensmann did such a masterful job as the 9th inning guy he was named as the conference’s freshman of the year. In order to get that honor, he had to beat out other Nebraska baseball stars, including two-thirds of the Cornhuskers’ rotation.

Matt Waldron and Jake Meyers both put up mind boggling good numbers for the Nebraska baseball team this year considering their youth but Luensmann trumped them both thanks to notching 13 saves while posting just a 1.26 earned run average.

Once he was able to outpace his own teammates, Luensmann made his choice as the Big Ten Freshman of the Year pretty easy. The hurler was tied for the conference lead in saves (with two upperclassmen closers), and he posted the B1G’s best overall earned run average by any pitcher who logged more than 10 appearances.

The budding Nebraska baseball star is an indication that the youth movement Darin Erstad has been carrying out is starting to pay dividends. The Pennsylvania native was among the top pitchers in the entire state his senior year of high school.

Luensmann was also good enough to be drafted by the New York Mets in the 39th round of last year’s draft. Instead of going right to a pro career, the right-hander decided to accept a scholarship to play for the Nebraska baseball team.

Considering the reliever closed out nearly 40 percent of the Huskers’ wins this year, the decision to come to NU was mutually beneficial. Luensmann closed the season out strong, earning Big Ten freshman of the week on May 10 but he’s taken home some honors that demonstrate his high moral character and work in the classroom.

Next: Nebraska Baseball Looking To End Regular Season On High Note

Chad Luensmann made the Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll for the fall of 2015 and is a member of the Tom Osborne Citizenship Team. All of these honors together should make the Nebraska baseball family very proud.