Big Ten Announces 2026 Baseball Award Winners; UCLA’s Cholowsky and Savage Honored

Compiled from a press release issued by the Big Ten Conference.

The Big Ten Conference announced its 2026 baseball awards winners on Tuesday. Voting was conducted by the conference head coaches.

UCLA junior shortstop Roch Cholowsky was named Big Ten Player of the Year for the second-straight season and record-setting USC junior Mason Edwards earned Big Ten Pitcher of the Year honors. Nebraska took home two individual awards with senior shortstop Dylan Carey tabbed Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and rookie outfielder Drew Grego chosen as Big Ten Freshman of the Year. UCLA’s John Savage was a unanimous selection as Big Ten Coach of the Year.

Cholowsky becomes the third player in Big Ten history to earn the player of the year award in consecutive seasons, joining Minnesota’s Luke Appert (2002-03) and Michigan’s Barry Larkin (1984-85). His selection also marks the fourth-straight year a shortstop has been recognized. Cholowsky has produced a .330 batting average with 21 home runs and 59 RBI in 54 games. He leads the Big Ten in home runs (21), runs scored (70) and is tied for total bases (141). A native of Chandler, Arizona, Cholowsky is the top-ranked player on the 2026 MLB Draft top 150 prospects list and is a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award, presented to the top amateur baseball player in the nation.

Left-handed starter Edwards sports an 8-0 record with a 1.49 ERA in 84.1 innings pitched. The Los Angeles native leads the NCAA in strikeouts (154) and hits allowed per nine innings (4.59) while ranking second in ERA (1.49) and seventh in WHIP (0.95). Edwards has recorded 10-or-more strikeouts 12 times and set the Big Ten record for strikeouts in a conference season (113). The Golden Spikes Award semifinalist was also named Big Ten Pitcher of the Week four times, matching a conference season record.

Carey owns a .980 fielding percentage in 54 starts, having committed just four errors in 196 chances at shortstop. At the plate he has compiled a .347 batting average, 14 home runs and a Big Ten-leading 63 RBI. A native of Castle Rock, Colorado, Carey has made 230 career starts for the Cornhuskers and is the school’s all-time doubles leader (63). He is a semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy, awarded to the top college player by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.

Grego sports a .348 batting average with seven home runs and 44 RBI in 48 games. He ranks second in slugging percentage (.576) and third in on-base percentage (.444) and batting (.348) for the 15th-ranked Cornhuskers. Grego has also been flawless in the outfield, fielding 1.000 in 93 chances. The Papillion, Nebraska, product is the third Cornhusker to win the Big Ten Freshman of the Year Award.

Savage led UCLA to its second-straight Big Ten regular season title as the Bruins set Big Ten records for conference wins (28) and consecutive conference wins (25) in a season. UCLA (48-6) has spent the entire season as the nation’s consensus No. 1-ranked team and is the top-seed for the Big Ten Baseball Tournament presented by IFS.ai, which began Tuesday and runs through Sunday at Charles Schwab Field Omaha in Omaha, Neb.

The Big Ten also recognized 17 Sportsmanship Award recipients, honoring student-athletes who distinguished themselves through sportsmanship, ethical behavior, academics and citizenship.

A complete list of award winners is below:

2026 BIG TEN BASEBALL POSTSEASON AWARDS

PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Roch Cholowsky, Jr., SS, UCLA

PITCHER OF THE YEAR
Mason Edwards, Jr., SP, USC

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Dylan Carey, Sr., SS, Nebraska

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Drew Grego, Fr., OF, Nebraska

COACH OF THE YEAR
John Savage, UCLA +

ALL-BIG TEN FIRST TEAM
SP – Carson Jasa, R-So., Nebraska
SP – Logan Reddemann, Jr., UCLA
SP – Mason Edwards, Jr., USC +
SP – Grant Govel, So., USC
RP – Tanner Bradley, So., Oregon
RP – Easton Hawk, So., UCLA
RP – Wylan Moss, So., UCLA
C – Weber Neels, Sr., Minnesota
1B – Mulivai Levu, Jr., UCLA
2B – Colby Turner, Jr., Michigan
SS – Roch Cholowsky, Jr., UCLA
3B – Drew Smith, Sr., Oregon
OF – Hogan Denny, So., Indiana
OF – Will Gasparino, Jr., UCLA
OF – Jackson Hotchkiss, So., Washington
UTL – Michael Anderson, Sr., Penn State
At-Large – Dylan Carey, Sr., Nebraska (SS)
At-Large – Roman Martin, Jr., UCLA (3B)

ALL-BIG TEN SECOND TEAM
SP – Aidan Flinn, Fr., Illinois
SP – Aidan Donovan, So., Michigan State
SP – Isaac Morton, Jr., Minnesota
SP – Will Sanford, So., Oregon
RP – J’Shawn Unger, So., Nebraska
RP – Devin Bell, Sr., Oregon
RP – Adam Troy, R-Jr., USC
C – Colton Bower, R-Jr., Washington
1B – Case Sanderson, Jr., Nebraska
2B – Gable Mitchell, Sr., Iowa
SS – Henry Kaczmar, Sr., Ohio State
3B – Sam Flores, Sr., Purdue
OF – Drew Grego, Fr., Nebraska
OF – Mac Moyer, Jr., Nebraska
OF – Jack Basseer, Sr., USC
UTL – Dane Harvey, R-So., Ohio State
At-Large – Jake Hanley, So., Indiana (1B)
At-Large – Ryan Cooney, Jr., Oregon (2B)
At-Large – Cashel Dugger, Jr., UCLA (C)

ALL-BIG TEN THIRD TEAM
SP – Tony Neubeck, Gr., Indiana
SP – Kurt Barr, Sr., Michigan
SP – Noah Kenney, Jr., Washington
RP – Cal Randall, Jr., UCLA
C – Mason Eckelman, Jr., Ohio State
1B – Caleb Wulf, Sr., Iowa
2B – Dylan Drake, Jr., Purdue
SS – Ryan Kucherak, Jr., Northwestern
3B – Brayden Martin, Jr., Maryland
OF – Charlie Sutherland, Jr., Minnesota
OF – Jack Lausch, Sr., Northwestern
OF – Avery Moore, Sr., Purdue
UTL – Naulivou Lauaki Jr., R-Fr., Oregon
(no At-Large due to second team tie) 

ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM
P – Grant Govel, So., USC
C – Cashel Dugger, Jr., UCLA
1B – Mulivai Levu, Jr., UCLA
2B – Gable Mitchell, Sr., Iowa
SS – Dylan Carey, Sr., Nebraska
3B – Drew Smith, Sr., Oregon
OF – Mac Moyer, Jr., Nebraska
OF – Will Gasparino, Jr., UCLA
OF – Dean West, Jr., UCLA

ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM
Aidan Flinn, Fr., SP, Illinois
AJ Putty, Fr., 1B, Illinois
Kyle Alivo, R-Fr., UTL, Iowa
Bud Coombs, Fr., OF, Maryland
Ryan Costello, R-Fr., 1B, Maryland
Ty Kaunas, Fr., SS, Maryland
Shane Brinham, Fr., SP, Michigan
Drew Grego, Fr., OF, Nebraska
Jeter Worthley, Fr., C, Nebraska
Brayden Jaksa, Fr., 1B, Oregon
Naulivou Lauaki Jr., R-Fr., UTL, Oregon
Angel Laya, Fr., OF, Oregon
Zach Strickland, Fr., RP, UCLA
Diego Velazquez, Fr., RP, USC

SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD
Will Johannes, Sr., C, Illinois
Tony Neubeck, Gr., SP, Indiana
Kellen Strohmeyer, R-Jr., OF, Iowa
Aden Hill, Sr., OF, Maryland
Joonsung Park, Jr., UTL, Michigan
Randy Seymour, Sr., 1B, Michigan State
Charlie Sutherland, Jr., OF, Minnesota
Caleb Clark, Sr., RP, Nebraska
Jack Lausch, Sr., OF, Northwestern
Noah Furcht, Gr., OF, Ohio State
Jack Brooks, Jr., OF, Oregon
Ben DeMell, R-Sr., RP, Penn State
Aaron Manias, R-Sr., UTL, Purdue
Matt Chatelle, Sr., C, Rutgers
Cashel Dugger, Jr., C, UCLA
Andrew Lamb, Jr., OF, USC
Tommy Brandenburg, R-Sr., RP, Washington

+ unanimous selections

Photo: UCLA’s Roch Cholowsky bats during an NCAA baseball game against Texas Christian on Friday, Feb. 20, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong)