Saladino, Five Others Earn Summit League Baseball Honors

TULSA—Oral Roberts shortstop Tyler Saladino has been named Summit League Player and Newcomer of the Year in voting by league head coaches. He is joined on the all-league first team by teammates Nick Baligod, Seth Furmanek andBryce Smolen. Chris Elder and Joey Winiecki were named to the second team.

Saladino enters this weekend’s Summit League Tournament batting .388 overall with 17 home runs, 71 RBI and 14 stolen bases. In 28 Summit League games Saladino hit a league-best .491 while collecting at least one hit in every game. He added 11 home runs and 50 RBI. Saladino, a junior, is the 14th ORU player in 13 seasons to either win or share player of the year honors, and the ninth to capture newcomer accolades.

Baligod earns first team honors after enjoying a strong first season with the Golden Eagles. The junior outfielder is batting .377 with 10 home runs and 46 RBI overall, and batted .435-8-35 in 28 Summit League games.

Furmanek joins Saladino and Baligod after leading the league in home runs as a designated hitter. Overall, Furmanek is batting .313 with 21 homers and 58 RBI, while also serving as a catcher and starting pitcher. His 21 home runs are the most by an ORU player in 11 seasons, and are two shy of the league season record. In Summit play Furmanek batted .389-13-38 in 25 games. 

Smolen is the only ORU pitcher named to the all-league team. The junior right-hander is 8-3 overall with a 4.61 ERA and 73 strikeouts in 84.0 innings. He posted 6-1, 3.33 numbers in conference play. 

Elder, an outfielder, enters the post-season hitting .320-6-45, but batted .426-3-18 in league play. Winiecki, also an outfielder, is batting .337-022 with 13 stolen bases overall, and .327-0-16 with eight steals in Summit League contests.

The Golden Eagles take on Centenary in the opening round of the Currington Mortgage Summit League Tournament, 7 p.m., Thursday at J.L. Johnson Stadium. The tournament runs through Saturday.