Johnson & Schmidt Earn Perfect Game Preseason All-America Accolades
Jan. 9, 2017
COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina junior right-hander Tyler Johnson and junior right-hander Clarke Schmidt earned Preseason All-America accolades as announced by Perfect Game on Monday afternoon. Johnson was a first-team selection with Schmidt earning second-team selection honors. South Carolina opens the 2017 season on Friday, Feb. 17 hosting UNCG.
Last season, Johnson went 3-2 with a 2.42 ERA and had nine saves. Johnson struck out 59 to just eight walks in 52.0 innings in 29 relief appearances. Eight of Johnson’s nine saves were in league play, the most by any SEC pitcher. Johnson pitched on USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team over the summer.
Schmidt also earned preseason second-team honors from Collegiate Baseball. He earned third-team All-America honors from Collegiate Baseball and the NCBWA last year after going 9-5 with a 3.40 ERA. He struck out 129 batters to 27 walks in 111.1 innings pitched with opponents hitting .248 against him. Schmidt’s 129 strikeouts are the second-highest among returning pitchers from last season in Division I baseball.
2017 Perfect Game Rawlings Preseason College All-American Teams
First Team
C — Mike Rivera, Florida
1B — Pavin Smith, Virginia
2B — Nick Madrigal, Oregon State
3B — Jake Burger, Missouri State
SS — Kevin Smith, Maryland
OF — Seth Beer, Clemson
OF — Jeren Kendall, Vanderbilt
OF — Keston Hiura, UC Irvine
DH — Nick Feight, UNC Wilmington
UT — Brendan McKay, Louisville
SP — Alex Faedo, Florida
SP — Kyle Wright, Vanderbilt
SP — J.B. Bukauskas, North Carolina
SP — Tanner Houck, Missouri
SP — Tristan Beck, Stanford
RP — Dylan Moore, UL Lafayette
RP — Tyler Johnson, South Carolina
Second Team
C — Evan Skoug, TCU
1B — Evan White, Kentucky
2B — Brian Mims, UNC Wilmington
3B — Elliott Barzilli, TCU
SS — Dalton Guthrie, Florida
OF — Brian Miller, North Carolina
OF — Jake Mangum, Mississippi State
OF — Michael Gigliotti, Lipscomb
DH — Luken Baker, TCU
UT — Adam Haseley, Virginia
SP — Alex Lange, LSU
SP — Brian Howard, TCU
SP — Andrew Beckwith, Coastal Carolina
SP — Clarke Schmidt, South Carolina
SP — Erich Uelmen, Cal Poly
RP — Durbin Feltman, TCU
RP — Kyle Nelson, UC Santa Barbara
Third Team
C — Cal Raleigh, Florida State
1B — K.J. Harrison, Oregon State
2B — Zach Kirtley, Saint Mary’s
3B — Carl Stajduhar, New Mexico
SS — Taylor Walls, Florida State
OF — Trey Truitt, Mercer
OF — Kevin Strohschein, Tennessee Tech
OF — Stuart Fairchild, Wake Forest
DH — J.J. Schwarz, Florida
UT — Jake Meyers, Nebraska
SP — Tyler Wilson, Rhode Island
SP — James Karinchak, Bryant
SP — Kade McClure, Louisville
SP — Darren McCaughan, Long Beach State
SP — Evan Kruczynski, East Carolina
RP — Glenn Otto, Rice
RP — Sam Donko, VCU
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South Carolina won the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship in 2010 and 2011 at the College World Series. South Carolina has made 11 College World Series appearances including six times in the last 15 years. In those 11 appearances, the Gamecocks are 32-20 for a .615 winning percentage, that is sixth-best among winning percentage leaders in CWS history. South Carolina is one of three schools in the nation to have reached at least 12 NCAA Super Regionals since 2000 and has the most NCAA Super Regional appearances of the 14 SEC schools since 2000. In addition, the Gamecocks own the second-highest win total in Division I baseball since 2000 (791-332 record) and more conference wins than any SEC team since 2000 (308-198 record). Recently, South Carolina is one of only four schools in the nation to host a NCAA Regional in six of the last seven years.
