#Gophers head coach John Anderson was a UNANIMOUS choice for @B1Gbaseball Coach of the Year! pic.twitter.com/pFldl1d6wX
— Minnesota Baseball (@GopherBaseball) May 24, 2016
Minnesota Gophers baseball coach John Anderson was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year.
The conference made the announcement Tuesday. It was one of several awards won by members of the Gopher team that won the Big Ten regular season title.
The Gophers were picked to finish outside of the top eight and expected to miss the league’s annual postseason tournament altogether. Instead Anderson led his squad to a league-best 16-7 record in Big Ten play and to the program’s 23rd Big Ten title. Minnesota is the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten Tournament that starts Wednesday in Omaha.
John Anderson, who claimed the award for the first time since 2010, guided the #Gophers to their 23rd #B1GBaseball Championship this season.
— Big Ten Baseball (@B1Gbaseball) May 24, 2016
The Gophers finished the season pacing the Big Ten in batting average (.328) and fielding percentage (.980) under Anderson’s leadership this season.
It’s the seventh time in Anderson’s career he has been named the league’s top coach, he was a unanimous pick this year.
He is already the all-time winningest coach in Big Ten history having amassed 544 victories against conference opponents. He picked up his 1,200th career victory earlier in May, when the Gophers beat Kansas 19-7. That win made him just the ninth coach in NCAA history to win 1,200 or more games at one institution.
In addition to Anderson bringing home the Coach of the Year award, junior Matt Fielder was named the Big Ten Player of the Year. He was in the top five in the conference in batting average (.383), hits (82), total bases (116) and pitching victories (7).
The Gophers open Big Ten Tournament play against No. 8 seed Iowa at 5 p.m. Wednesday
