WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. ? Monmouth freshman pitcher Ryan Buch (Yardley, Pa./Conwell Egan Catholic), the Northeast Conference Rookie of the Year, was named to the Collegiate Baseball/Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American Team, and also tabbed as an All-Ping Baseball Second-Team Freshman All-American.
Buch sparkled in his freshman campaign, quickly establishing himself as one of the NEC's top starters while providing a terrific one-two combination in the Monmouth rotation along with NEC Pitcher of the Year Brad Brach (Freehold, N.J./Freehold Township).
Sporting an 9-2 record, Buch tied for the league lead in wins, and finished with a 2.44 ERA. The righty, who set an MU freshman win record, finished with 76 strikeouts in 81.0 innings of work, while opponents hit just .223 against him.
Buch joined a long line of Monmouth players - seven in total - honored as NEC Rookie of the Year, the most recent being teammate Rick Niederhaus (Whitehouse Station, N.J./Hunterdon Central) in 2006, who was also tabbed a Freshman All-American by Collegiate Baseball. He is also the lone freshman this season to be rewarded with an all-conference spot, collecting second team accolades.
The Monmouth baseball team won its third NEC title in 2007, while setting a new school record for wins with 36. The Hawks competed in the Tempe Regional at Arizona State Univeristy, dropping a 5-3 decision to the No. 5 national seed Sun Devils in the first game. On the second day, in which Buch started and pitched 6.1 innings, with five strikeouts, the Blue and White fell to Nebraska, 6-5. In both contests, Monmouth had the tying runs in scoring position in the ninth inning.
