Pitre, Waldschmidt Earn All-Region Honors

Emilien Pitre and Ryan Waldschmidt both added to their award chest on Tuesday as they each were named to the ABCA/Rawlings Midwest All-Region Teams. Pitre was first team and Waldschmidt earned second team honors. The ABCA is the American Baseball Coaches Association.

Pitre, a junior from Quebec, Canada, starred in all facets of the game. He has been nearly flawless with just two errors in nearly 250 chances this season, a fielding percentage of .992. He forms half the duo of one of the best defensive middle infields in the country and is batting .298 with 54 runs, 19 doubles, a triple, nine home runs, 56 RBI, 45 walks and 25 stolen bases, which are the most in a season for a player in the Mingione era.

Waldschmidt was even hotter in conference play, finishing as one of a handful of players with a batting average over .400 (.405). Overall, he has hit .346 with a 1.107 OPS, 64 runs, 17 doubles, 14 home runs, 46 RBI, 36 walks, 16 hit by pitch and 24 stolen bases.

Maybe most impressive was the Bradenton, Florida native produced this season after recovering from a torn ACL in summer baseball in 2023. He did not return to the outfield until several weeks into the season.

UK will open play in the College World Series at 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. local time on Saturday, June 15 in Omaha, Nebraska against NC State.