Central Michigan University Athletics
Photo by: Jack Reeber '23,M'25 - @jackreeber.raw
Taylor Adds All-America To Ever-Growing List Of Accolades
6/3/2021 7:40:00 PM | Baseball
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Best in the Mid-American Conference and one of the very best in the nation.
Central Michigan redshirt freshman pitcher Andrew Taylor was named to Collegiate Baseball's All-America Second Team on Thursday.
"My initial goal coming here was to try to be the best at this level; just work my tail off every single day," Taylor said. "If it wasn't for the coaches, I wouldn't have this opportunity. It's a big thank you to them for having confidence in me."
Taylor, a 6-foot-5, 190-pound right-hander, will start on Friday (1 p.m.) when the Chippewas take on sixth-ranked Notre Dame in an NCAA Regional opener at the Fighting Irish's Frank Eck Baseball Stadium.
The All-America honor is the latest in a week that saw Taylor named to the All-Mid-American Conference First Team and earn the league pitcher and freshman pitcher of the year awards.
The Alto, Mich. native has been absolute dynamite this season, compiling an 11-3 record with a 1.21 earned run average and 120 strikeouts, the second highest total for a single season in the 115 years of CMU baseball. His 11 wins rank as the third most for a Chippewa hurler.
He ranks second in the nation in both wins and ERA and is 11th in strikeouts. The ERA leader is Arkansas closer Kevin Kopps (0.81). Kopps was named Collegiate Baseball's National Player of the Year.
Taylor was good from the time he set foot on campus, finishing 1-0 with a 2.16 ERA in five appearances as a true freshman during the COVID-shortened 2020 season.
"You could start to see it last year that Andrew was going to be really good, but you just can't ever predict these types of numbers," CMU coach Jordan Bischel said. "Thousands of pitchers in the country and somehow he's No. 1 among every starting pitcher in ERA. You can't dream that up. Obviously, a lot goes into that but most of it is Andrew's hard work, and a really good defense behind him."
Taylor was lightly recruited out of Caledonia High School, drawing interest primarily from junior college and Division II programs. He played summer ball for the Grand Rapids Diamonds and coach Billy Peterson, who urged Bischel to take a look at the still-developing pitcher.
The more Bischel saw of Taylor, the more he liked, eventually extending an offer during the fall of 2019 after Taylor threw during a tournament at the Chippewas' home, Keilitz Field at Theunissen Stadium, and then at CMU's prospects camp.
"I remember seeing him at a camp and he hit 91 (mph) and I was like, this kid's going to be really good," CMU senior first baseman Zach Heeke said. "The first thing is he's very confident, but he's not going to tell anyone how good he really is. He deserves every accolade, every award, every compliment he gets because he puts in the work, and he really trusts what he does. He gets on the mound and he's going to compete for us to win games."
Taylor describes himself as a "late bloomer" who "wasn't very refined and as polished as some other pitchers.
"Coming in as a freshman I would never have expected this, ever. I wasn't treated like a freshman coming in. I was treated like I was one of their own; I was treated like family coming in."
Taylor's shortest outing, five innings, was his first when he took the loss in a 5-1 loss at Texas A&M Corpus Christi on Feb. 21. It was CMU's second game of the year and the Chippewas had not even practiced on a field before their three-game season-opening series in the Lone Star State.
Taylor did not allow a run in either of his next two starts, notching victories at William & Mary and then at West Virginia. He followed with another victory at Dayton, striking out a career-high 14. He lost two of his next three starts, 4-3 at Ohio and 3-2 to Bowling Green. His ERA after that loss to the Falcons was a season high 1.85.
Then, he turned on the jets, earning the win in each of his final seven starts.
In that seven-game stretch, he surrendered just three earned runs and struck out 56 over 45 2/3 innings. He struck out 10 in firing an eight-inning one-hitter last weekend in a 1-0 win at Toledo, bringing the Chippewas to within a game of their second consecutive MAC championship.
Taylor enters Friday's game with Notre Dame on a 21 2/3-inning scoreless streak.
Taylor said he leaned on the likes of veteran teammates such as Heeke to help him through rough patches, as infrequent as they were.
"Just (Heeke) and the whole infield talking me through it," he said, adding that the message generally was "'Calm down, you're good enough, keep repeating that mental process, keep attacking.' That's the biggest thing I've learned to do throughout this year as a freshman.
"It doesn't feel real. All of the hard work that we've put in this year is really paying off. Just getting that 1% better each day (and competing) with that same underdog mentality."
Central Michigan redshirt freshman pitcher Andrew Taylor was named to Collegiate Baseball's All-America Second Team on Thursday.
"My initial goal coming here was to try to be the best at this level; just work my tail off every single day," Taylor said. "If it wasn't for the coaches, I wouldn't have this opportunity. It's a big thank you to them for having confidence in me."
Taylor, a 6-foot-5, 190-pound right-hander, will start on Friday (1 p.m.) when the Chippewas take on sixth-ranked Notre Dame in an NCAA Regional opener at the Fighting Irish's Frank Eck Baseball Stadium.
The All-America honor is the latest in a week that saw Taylor named to the All-Mid-American Conference First Team and earn the league pitcher and freshman pitcher of the year awards.
The Alto, Mich. native has been absolute dynamite this season, compiling an 11-3 record with a 1.21 earned run average and 120 strikeouts, the second highest total for a single season in the 115 years of CMU baseball. His 11 wins rank as the third most for a Chippewa hurler.
He ranks second in the nation in both wins and ERA and is 11th in strikeouts. The ERA leader is Arkansas closer Kevin Kopps (0.81). Kopps was named Collegiate Baseball's National Player of the Year.
Taylor was good from the time he set foot on campus, finishing 1-0 with a 2.16 ERA in five appearances as a true freshman during the COVID-shortened 2020 season.
"You could start to see it last year that Andrew was going to be really good, but you just can't ever predict these types of numbers," CMU coach Jordan Bischel said. "Thousands of pitchers in the country and somehow he's No. 1 among every starting pitcher in ERA. You can't dream that up. Obviously, a lot goes into that but most of it is Andrew's hard work, and a really good defense behind him."
Taylor was lightly recruited out of Caledonia High School, drawing interest primarily from junior college and Division II programs. He played summer ball for the Grand Rapids Diamonds and coach Billy Peterson, who urged Bischel to take a look at the still-developing pitcher.
The more Bischel saw of Taylor, the more he liked, eventually extending an offer during the fall of 2019 after Taylor threw during a tournament at the Chippewas' home, Keilitz Field at Theunissen Stadium, and then at CMU's prospects camp.
"I remember seeing him at a camp and he hit 91 (mph) and I was like, this kid's going to be really good," CMU senior first baseman Zach Heeke said. "The first thing is he's very confident, but he's not going to tell anyone how good he really is. He deserves every accolade, every award, every compliment he gets because he puts in the work, and he really trusts what he does. He gets on the mound and he's going to compete for us to win games."
Taylor describes himself as a "late bloomer" who "wasn't very refined and as polished as some other pitchers.
"Coming in as a freshman I would never have expected this, ever. I wasn't treated like a freshman coming in. I was treated like I was one of their own; I was treated like family coming in."
Taylor's shortest outing, five innings, was his first when he took the loss in a 5-1 loss at Texas A&M Corpus Christi on Feb. 21. It was CMU's second game of the year and the Chippewas had not even practiced on a field before their three-game season-opening series in the Lone Star State.
Taylor did not allow a run in either of his next two starts, notching victories at William & Mary and then at West Virginia. He followed with another victory at Dayton, striking out a career-high 14. He lost two of his next three starts, 4-3 at Ohio and 3-2 to Bowling Green. His ERA after that loss to the Falcons was a season high 1.85.
Then, he turned on the jets, earning the win in each of his final seven starts.
In that seven-game stretch, he surrendered just three earned runs and struck out 56 over 45 2/3 innings. He struck out 10 in firing an eight-inning one-hitter last weekend in a 1-0 win at Toledo, bringing the Chippewas to within a game of their second consecutive MAC championship.
Taylor enters Friday's game with Notre Dame on a 21 2/3-inning scoreless streak.
Taylor said he leaned on the likes of veteran teammates such as Heeke to help him through rough patches, as infrequent as they were.
"Just (Heeke) and the whole infield talking me through it," he said, adding that the message generally was "'Calm down, you're good enough, keep repeating that mental process, keep attacking.' That's the biggest thing I've learned to do throughout this year as a freshman.
"It doesn't feel real. All of the hard work that we've put in this year is really paying off. Just getting that 1% better each day (and competing) with that same underdog mentality."
Players Mentioned
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