Photo by: Owen Main | Cal Poly Athletics
Pitcher Drew Thorpe Earns Spot on NCBWA All-America First Team
6/16/2022 11:10:00 AM | Baseball
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- The trophy case for Drew Thorpe continues to grow.
Cal Poly's sophomore right-hander, who won 10 games during the 2022 season, the most by a Mustang pitcher since the 2014 Big West Conference championship campaign, picked up his second All-American award Thursday with a spot on the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association's first team.
Thorpe was named to Collegiate Baseball Newspaper's All-American first team earlier this month. Earlier this week he landed on the ABCA/Rawlings All-West Region first team.
A graduate of Desert Hills High School in St. George, Utah, Thorpe was 16-2 in his last two varsity seasons with the Thunder and continued that kind of success at Cal Poly with a 17-8 career win-loss record and 3.03 ERA.
Thorpe's first career start as a Mustang was against defending national champion and preseason No. 1 Vanderbilt at the MLB4 Tournament in Scottsdale, Ariz. In the seven-inning no-decision -- Cal Poly rallied for two runs in the ninth for a 9-8 victory -- Thorpe struck out six and allowed two runs and four hits.
He went on to strike out 284 batters over 223 innings in his first three Mustang seasons, reaching double digits in strikeouts 13 times, including a record-tying school Division I mark with 15 strikeouts against UC San Diego last March.
This spring, Thorpe went 10-1 and compiled a 2.32 ERA with 149 strikeouts in 104.2 innings of work on the mound. He held opposing hitters to a .175 batting average and earned quality starts in his final 14 starts of the season en route to becoming Cal Poly's first Big West Conference Pitcher of the Year.
Thorpe was one of five finalists for National Pitcher of the Year and also was a semifinalist for both the Dick Howser Trophy and Golden Spikes Award. He is projected to be a first- or second-round pick in the 2022 Major League Baseball Draft next month.
Thorpe wrapped up his 2022 season three weeks ago in a 5-3 win at Hawai'i, notching 10 strikeouts over eight innings to regain the national lead in strikeouts. He surrendered three runs on four hits and a walk in the first inning, then shut the door on the Rainbow Warriors by retiring 11 straight, 14 of 15 and 22 of 24 Hawai'i batters. He retired the side in order five times.
Thorpe finished second in the nation with his 149 strikeouts, 12 behind Oregon State's Connor Hjerpe, who surpassed Thorpe with three appearances in the NCAA regional and super regional rounds. Thorpe also was fifth in hits allowed per nine innings (5.59), sixth in WHIP (0.86), 13th in the nation in strikeouts per nine innings (12.81), 17th with his 2.32 ERA and 24th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.96).
Thorpe is Cal Poly's first 10-game winner since Casey Bloomquist earned 12 victories and Matt Imhof added 10, both in 2014.
In his last start of 2022, Thorpe surpassed the school single-season strikeout mark of 140 set by Erik Bratlein in 1988. He also is No. 4 in career strikeouts with 284, 12 shy of Dan Chergey's record set during the 1990-93 campaigns.
Thorpe was 1-1 with a 3.21 ERA in four starts during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season and struck out 104 batters over 90 1/3 innings with a 6-6 record and 3.79 ERA during the 2021 campaign. Last summer he pitched for Yarmouth-Dennis in the Cape Cod League as well as for USA Baseball's Collegiate National Team.
Thorpe pitched seven or more innings in 18 of his career starts at Cal Poly, including complete-game wins over Hawai'i in 2021 and Harvard in 2022 (three-hit shutout), and threw 100 or more pitches 23 times as a Mustang.
Thorpe is the only player from a Big West Conference school on the NCBWA's three All-American teams.
All-Americans from teams that played Cal Poly this season include Stanford starting pitcher Alex Williams (second team) and Portland starting pitcher Brett Gillis (third team).
Cal Poly's sophomore right-hander, who won 10 games during the 2022 season, the most by a Mustang pitcher since the 2014 Big West Conference championship campaign, picked up his second All-American award Thursday with a spot on the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association's first team.
Thorpe was named to Collegiate Baseball Newspaper's All-American first team earlier this month. Earlier this week he landed on the ABCA/Rawlings All-West Region first team.
A graduate of Desert Hills High School in St. George, Utah, Thorpe was 16-2 in his last two varsity seasons with the Thunder and continued that kind of success at Cal Poly with a 17-8 career win-loss record and 3.03 ERA.
Thorpe's first career start as a Mustang was against defending national champion and preseason No. 1 Vanderbilt at the MLB4 Tournament in Scottsdale, Ariz. In the seven-inning no-decision -- Cal Poly rallied for two runs in the ninth for a 9-8 victory -- Thorpe struck out six and allowed two runs and four hits.
He went on to strike out 284 batters over 223 innings in his first three Mustang seasons, reaching double digits in strikeouts 13 times, including a record-tying school Division I mark with 15 strikeouts against UC San Diego last March.
This spring, Thorpe went 10-1 and compiled a 2.32 ERA with 149 strikeouts in 104.2 innings of work on the mound. He held opposing hitters to a .175 batting average and earned quality starts in his final 14 starts of the season en route to becoming Cal Poly's first Big West Conference Pitcher of the Year.
Thorpe was one of five finalists for National Pitcher of the Year and also was a semifinalist for both the Dick Howser Trophy and Golden Spikes Award. He is projected to be a first- or second-round pick in the 2022 Major League Baseball Draft next month.
Thorpe wrapped up his 2022 season three weeks ago in a 5-3 win at Hawai'i, notching 10 strikeouts over eight innings to regain the national lead in strikeouts. He surrendered three runs on four hits and a walk in the first inning, then shut the door on the Rainbow Warriors by retiring 11 straight, 14 of 15 and 22 of 24 Hawai'i batters. He retired the side in order five times.
Thorpe finished second in the nation with his 149 strikeouts, 12 behind Oregon State's Connor Hjerpe, who surpassed Thorpe with three appearances in the NCAA regional and super regional rounds. Thorpe also was fifth in hits allowed per nine innings (5.59), sixth in WHIP (0.86), 13th in the nation in strikeouts per nine innings (12.81), 17th with his 2.32 ERA and 24th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.96).
Thorpe is Cal Poly's first 10-game winner since Casey Bloomquist earned 12 victories and Matt Imhof added 10, both in 2014.
In his last start of 2022, Thorpe surpassed the school single-season strikeout mark of 140 set by Erik Bratlein in 1988. He also is No. 4 in career strikeouts with 284, 12 shy of Dan Chergey's record set during the 1990-93 campaigns.
Thorpe was 1-1 with a 3.21 ERA in four starts during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season and struck out 104 batters over 90 1/3 innings with a 6-6 record and 3.79 ERA during the 2021 campaign. Last summer he pitched for Yarmouth-Dennis in the Cape Cod League as well as for USA Baseball's Collegiate National Team.
Thorpe pitched seven or more innings in 18 of his career starts at Cal Poly, including complete-game wins over Hawai'i in 2021 and Harvard in 2022 (three-hit shutout), and threw 100 or more pitches 23 times as a Mustang.
Thorpe is the only player from a Big West Conference school on the NCBWA's three All-American teams.
All-Americans from teams that played Cal Poly this season include Stanford starting pitcher Alex Williams (second team) and Portland starting pitcher Brett Gillis (third team).
Players Mentioned
RHP
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