Big Ten Conference Announces Baseball Postseason Awards

ROSEMONT, Ill. – The Big Ten Conference announced Tuesday baseball awards winners for the 2025 season. Voting was conducted by the conference’s head coaches and included for the first time a Defensive Player of the Year Award and an All-Defensive Team.

UCLA sophomore shortstop Roch Cholowsky (Rock chuh-LAU-skee) was named Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. Michigan State junior Joseph Dzierwa (Ger-wa) earned Pitcher of the Year honors and Indiana first baseman Jake Hanley received the Freshman of the Year Award. Oregon’s Mark Wasikowski was voted Coach of the Year by his peers.

Cholowsky has produced a .371 batting average with 20 home runs and 63 RBI in 54 games. His home run total is the most by a Bruin since 2009. A native of Chandler, Ariz., Cholowsky paces the Big Ten with a 1.274 OPS and a .511 on-base percentage. He also ranks 10^th in NCAA fielding percentage (.981) and is a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award, presented to the top amateur baseball player in the nation.

A 6-foot-8, left-handed starter, Dzierwa sports an 8-3 record with a 2.31 ERA and 98 strikeouts over 85.2 innings pitched. The Haskins, Ohio native has held opponents to a .193 batting average and was named Big Ten Pitcher of the Week four times, matching a conference season record. A Golden Spikes Award semifinalist, Dzierwa is the second Spartan to be named Big Ten Pitcher of the Year and the first since 2011.

A starter in all 54 games, Hanley leads Big Ten freshmen with 71 hits, 14 home runs and 52 RBI. This season Hanley has slashed .338/.434/.590 and compiled a 1.024 OPS. The Mason, Ohio product was twice named Big Ten Freshman of the Week. He becomes the third Indiana player to be named Big Ten Freshman of the Year and the second Hoosier in three years to receive the honor.

Wasikowski led Oregon to a share of the conference regular season title in the Ducks’ first season in the Big Ten. Oregon paces the Big Ten with 41 wins and has been nationally ranked the entire season, climbing as high as No. 2 in the Perfect Game poll. Wasikowski’s squad is the No. 1 seed for the Big Ten Baseball Tournament Presented by IFS.ai, which began today and runs through Sunday at Charles Schwab Field Omaha in Omaha, Neb.

The Big Ten also recognized 17 Sportsmanship Award recipients, honoring student-athletes who distinguished themselves through sportsmanship, ethical behavior, academics and citizenship.

2025 BIG TEN BASEBALL POSTSEASON AWARDS

PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Roch Cholowsky, So., SS, UCLA

PITCHER OF THE YEAR
Joseph Dzierwa, Jr., SP, Michigan State

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Roch Cholowsky, So., SS, UCLA

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Jake Hanley, Fr., 1B, Indiana

COACH OF THE YEAR
Mark Wasikowski, Oregon

ALL-BIG TEN FIRST TEAM
SP — Cade Obermueller, Jr., Iowa
SP — Aaron Savary, Jr., Iowa
SP — Joseph Dzierwa, Jr., Michigan State +
SP — Grayson Grinsell, Jr., Oregon
RP — Will Rogers, Sr., Michigan
RP — Seth Mattox, Sr., Oregon
RP — Isaac Yeager, Jr., Washington
C — Alex Calarco, Sr., Maryland
1B — Jacob Walsh, Sr., Oregon
2B — Mitch Voit, Jr., Michigan
SS — Roch Cholowsky, So., UCLA
3B — Ethan Hedges, Jr., USC
OF — Korbyn Dickerson, So., Indiana
OF — Devin Taylor, Jr., Indiana
OF — Mason Neville, Jr., Oregon
UTL — Reese Moore, So., Iowa
At-Large — Ryan Cooney, So., Oregon (2B)
At-Large — Paxton Kling, Jr., Penn State (OF)
+ unanimous selection

ALL-BIG TEN SECOND TEAM
SP — Cole Gilley, Sr., Indiana
SP — Reece Beuter, Sr., Iowa
SP — Michael Barnett, Jr., UCLA
SP — Max Banks, Sr., Washington
RP — Luke Broderick, Jr., Nebraska
RP — Michael Vallone, Gr., Purdue
RP — Brodie Purcell, So., USC
C — Daniel Rogers, Gr., Iowa
C — Weber Neels, Jr., Minnesota
1B — Logan Sutter, Sr., Purdue
1B — Mulivai Levu, So., UCLA
2B — Ryan McKay, So., Michigan State
SS — Chris Hacopian, So., Maryland
3B — Roman Martin, So., UCLA
OF — Vytas Valincius, Sr., Illinois
OF — Trevor Cohen, Rutgers
OF — AJ Salgado, Sr., UCLA
UTL — Jack Porter, So., Penn State
At-Large — Jake Hanley, Fr., Indiana (1B)
At-Large — Benny Casillas, Gr., Michigan (SS)

ALL-BIG TEN THIRD TEAM
SP — Kyle McCoy, So., Maryland
SP — Jason Reitz, Jr., Oregon
SP — Caden Aoki, Sr., USC
RP — Zach Bates, So., Illinois
2B — Abbrie Covarrubias, So., USC
SS — Maddox Molony, So., Oregon
3B — Owen McElfatrick, Jr., Northwestern
OF — Ben Wilmes, Sr., Iowa
OF — Anson Aroz, Jr., Oregon
OF — AJ Guerrero, Sr., Washington
UTL — Dominic Hellman, Jr., Oregon
At-Large — Jacob Schroeder, Gr., Illinois (C)
(no C, 1B due to second team ties)

ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM
P — Caden Aoki, Sr., USC
C — Jacob Schroeder, Gr., Illinois
1B — Mulivai Levu, So., UCLA
2B — Mitch Voit, Jr., Michigan
SS — Roch Cholowsky, So., UCLA
3B — Ethan Hedges, Jr., USC
OF — Korbyn Dickerson, So., Indiana
OF — Paxton Kling, Jr., Penn State
OF — Malakhi Knight, Sr., Washington

ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM
Jake Hanley, Fr., 1B, Indiana
Cooper Malamazian, Fr., SS, Indiana
Will Moore, Fr., 3B, Indiana
Jaixen Frost, R-Fr., 3B, Iowa
Tate Carey, Fr., SP, Michigan
Brayden Jefferis, Fr., OF, Michigan
Devin Nunez, Fr., UTL, Nebraska
Burke-Lee Mabeus, Fr., C, Oregon
Yomar Carreras, Fr., SS, Rutgers
Landon Mack, Fr., SP, Rutgers
Justin Shadek, R-Fr., SP, Rutgers
Wylan Moss, Fr., RP, UCLA
Andrew Johnson, Fr., RP, USC
Augie Lopez, Fr., UTL, USC

SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD
Payton Hutchings, Sr., RP, Illinois
Grant Holderfield, Jr., RP, Indiana
Max Burt, Fr., C, Iowa
Jacob Orr, Sr., UTL, Maryland
Cole Caruso, Sr., 3B, Michigan
Sam Busch, Sr., 1B, Michigan State
Jack Spanier, So., SS, Minnesota
Dylan Carey, Jr., SS, Nebraska
Tyler Ganus, Gr., UTL, Northwestern
Will Carpenter, Sr., 3B, Ohio State
Ryan Cooney, So., 2B, Oregon
Cole Wagner, Gr., 1B, Penn State
Michael Vallone, Gr., RP, Purdue
Joe Mazza, Sr., RP, Rutgers
Michael Barnett, Jr., SP, UCLA
Andrew Lamb, So., UTL, USC
Malakhi Knight, Sr., OF, Washington