University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Austin Earns NCBWA All-America Honors
June 14, 2023 | Baseball
LOS ANGELES โ UCLA senior right-hander Kelly Austin was named a 2023 All-American on Wednesday morning by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA).
It marks the first-career All-America honor for Austin, who was tabbed to the Third Team by the NCBWA. Earlier this spring, he was named to the 2023 Pac-12 All-Conference Team, also for the first time in his career.
The Costa Mesa, Calif. native becomes the first Bruin since JT Schwartz in 2021 to earn All-America honors. He is also UCLA's first NCBWA All-American since 2019, when a quartet of Bruins picked up national honors from the outlet (Ryan Garcia, Holden Powell, Jack Ralston, Garrett Mitchell).
Austin was the Bruins' top performer on the mound this season, finishing with a 5-4 record and 3.39 ERA with 104 strikeouts over 82 1/3 innings. He paced the squad in strikeouts and innings, and became the first UCLA pitcher to break the century mark in Ks since 2019. As of Jun. 14, he ranks top-five among qualifying Pac-12 pitchers in ERA (second), hits allowed per nine innings (7.87, second), andย strikeouts (third).ย
Austin has had several standout outings this season, throwing 6 2/3 shutout innings at Oregon on Mar. 12, allowing just four hits and striking out 11 against Utah on Apr. 6, fanning a career-high 13 against Oregon State on May 13, and posting a 12-K performance in UCLA's 17-4 win over Washington on May 24 in the Pac-12 Tournament.
Stay tuned to @UCLABaseball on Twitter for all team updates.
