Conley, Jung, Rombach Named Freshman All-Americans

LUBBOCK, Texas – Texas Tech freshmen Cal Conley, Jace Jung and Nate Rombach were tabbed Freshman All-Americans by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, the publication announced Tuesday. The three honors led the Big 12 and were tied with five others for the most in the nation.

This is the first All-America accolade for Jung and Rombach and the second for Conley as he landed on the publication's third team All-America list last week.

The trio join an impressive group of Red Raiders to be honored as freshmen by Collegiate Baseball, including Clayton Beeter (2019), Gabe Holt (2018), Josh Jung (2017), Steven Gingery (2016), Davis Martin (2016), Stephen Smith (2014), Dylan Dusek (2014), Eric Gutierrez (2013) and Jarrard Poteete (2013).

Head coach Tim Tadlock has now had 14 Red Raiders earn Freshman All-America, with at least one honoree in eight of his nine seasons as skipper in Lubbock. The three awards for 2020 set a program record.

After redshirting in 2019, Conley hit .371/.643/.444 while starting 18 games at shortstop. The Mount Carmel, Ohio, native ranked eighth nationally with 24 RBI, 15^th nationally with eight doubles and 23^rd nationally in total bases. He led the team with seven multi-RBI performances, was second with seven multi-hit games and was also 5-for-5 in stolen bases. His season highlights include a Big 12 Newcomer of the Week award, a game-tying home run in the seventh inning at No. 9 Florida State and an inside-the-park home run against Northern Colorado.

Jung stepped into the void at third base left by his older brother and immediately established his presence as he collected Big 12 Newcomer of the Week after opening weekend, when the San Antonio native went 8-for-16 with two home runs and 13 RBI. He ended the season among the nation's freshmen leaders in RBI (3^rd), home runs (7^th) and base on balls (1^st).

Rombach erupted out of the gates as well, earning multiple National Player of the Week Awards and Big 12 Player of the Week following opening weekend when he connected on five home runs and drove in 15 RBI. The Mansfield, Texas, product started all 19 games for Tech and closed the year as the Big 12 leader in home runs and RBI.

The Collegiate Baseball All-America teams reflect all games played before the season was stopped in mid-March because of the coronavirus pandemic. The vast majority of teams in NCAA Division I played 15-19 games before the season was shut down.

The Red Raiders ended the season at 16-3 overall and reached No. 1 in the polls for the first time since 1997.

Conley, Jung, Rombach Named Freshman All-Americans

Players Mentioned

Clayton Beeter

Cal Conley

Gabe Holt

Jace Jung

Josh Jung

Nate Rombach

Related Videos