Murray, Arbolida Headline Big 12 Awards

HOUSTON – Houston's Cary Arbolida and Justin Murray were named All-Big 12 Conference Second Team selections on Tuesday, with teammates Cade Citelli and Harold Coll being named All-Big 12 Honorable Mention and freshman Ace Reese being named to the All-Freshman Team. The honorees were selected in a vote of the league's head coaches, who could not vote for their own players.

Arbolida paced the Cougars in average (.359), home runs (17) and slugging (.847) in 2024. The outfielder led the league in Big 12 play with 11 home runs and posted the highest slugging percentage in games against Big 12 teams (.846), nearly 100 points higher than the next league hitter. The senior produced four multiple home run games for Houston with 13 multi-hit games and 10 multi-RBI games. The Torrance, Calif., native rattled off a career-long 11-game hitting streak at the end of the season from April 26-May 15.

Murray, who was named a John Olerud Award Semifinalist earlier this season, earned All-Conference honors for the second straight year as a Cougar after leading Houston with five saves, and a 2.18 ERA on the mound while spraying a team-leading 66 hits. The Charlotte, N.C., native posted a .300-average season for the second-straight year (.328) and finished second on the team in RBI (40) and third on the team in stolen bases (nine). The two-way star concluded his career with the eighth-best career-batting average in Cougar history (.353).

Citelli joined the rotation following an electric performance out of the bullpen against Texas in the series opener where the Prosper, Texas, native twirled 4.1 scoreless innings with six strikeouts. From the end of the Texas series, Citelli pitched to a 2.45 ERA in four starts and struck out 22 in 22.0 innings. Citelli held opposing Big 12 hitters to the fourth-lowest average in the league (.186) with the fourth-best ERA in league play (2.89). The righty finished the year with a 3.24 ERA, a 4-2 record and struck out 52 over 41.0 innings of work.

Coll made a statement in his lone season with Houston, becoming the first Cougar since 2008 with a 20 double-10 home run season while leading the team in RBI (55). The senior swiped the second most bases on the team (13) while also posting the third-best average (.317), second-most hits (66) and second-best slugging percentage (.601). The second baseman's 55 RBI and 20 doubles ranked fourth in the Big 12. The Boston native led the Cougars with 17 multi-hit games and 18 multi-RBI games while joining Arbolida and Reese as the three Cougars with 11-game hit streaks in 2024.

Reese was named to the All-Freshman team after finishing the year with the third-most home runs by Big 12 freshmen (seven) and fifth-most RBI (34) among league freshmen. The outfielder finished second in the league with four triples. The Canton, Texas, native started the season with hits in 12 of his first 13 games and an 11-game hitting streak from Feb. 18-March 8. Reese showed Cougar fans something to be excited for in the future with a walk-off two-run double in the ninth inning against Sam Houston in early March with the Cougars trailing by a run.

Full list of Big 12 Awards
Player of the Year: Max Belyeu, Texas
Pitcher of the Year: Payton Tolle, TCU
Freshman of the Year: Dominic Voegele, Kansas
Newcomer of the Year: Payton Tolle, TCU
Coach of the Year: Skip Johnson, Oklahoma

All-Big 12 First Team
C: Jake English, Kansas
IF: Brady Day, Kansas State
IF: Michael Snyder, Oklahoma
IF: Jalin Flores, Texas
IF: Jared Thomas, Texas
IF: JJ Wetherholt, West Virginia
OF: Carson Benge, Oklahoma State
OF: Zach Ehrhard, Oklahoma State
OF: Max Belyeu, Texas
DH: Easton Carmichael, Oklahoma
UT: Josh Kross, Cincinnati
SP: Braden Davis, Oklahoma
SP: Brian Holiday, Oklahoma State
SP: Payton Tolle, TCU*
SP: Derek Clark, West Virginia
RP: Ben Abeldt, TCU
RP: Gage Boehm, Texas

*- unanimous selection

All-Big 12 Second Team
C: Kevin Bazzell, Texas Tech
IF: Kodey Shojinaga, Kansas
IF: Kaelen Culpepper, Kansas State
IF: Colin Brueggemann, Oklahoma State
IF: Peyton Powell, Texas
IF: Reed Chumley, West Virginia
OF: Cary Arbolida, Houston
OF: Bryce Madron, Oklahoma
OF: Nolan Schubart, Oklahoma State
DH: Wesley Jordan, Baylor
UT: Christian Mitchelle, Cincinnati
UT: Justin Murray, Houston
SP: Dom Stagliano, UCF
SP: Reese Dutton, Kansas
SP: Dominic Voegele, Kansas
SP: Kyson Witherspoon, Oklahoma
SP: Sam Garcia, Oklahoma State
RP: Tyson Neighbors, Kansas State
RP: Robert Cranz, Oklahoma State

Ties resulted in five starting pitchers and two utility players on the second team

Honorable Mention
Baylor: Ethan Calder, Cole Posey
BYU: Stone Cushing, Mason Olson, Collin Reuter
UCF: Dominic Castellano, Chase Centala, Kyle Kramer, Danny Neri, Matt Prevesk
Cincinnati: Lauden Brooks, Kerrington Cross, Josh Hegemann, Tommy O'Connor, Nathan Taylor
Houston: Cade Citelli, Harold Coll
Kansas: Michael Brooks, Hunter Cranton, Ben Hartl, John Nett
Kansas State: Owen Boerema, Nick English, Brendan Jones, Raphael Pelletier, Jackson Wentworth
Oklahoma: Cater Campbell, Anthony Mackenzie, Scott Mudler, Jackson Nicklaus, John Spikerman, Jaxon Willits
Oklahoma State: Aidan Meola, Tommy Molsky
TCU: Kurtis Byrne, Zachary Cawyer, Logan Maxwell, Sam Myers
Texas: Rylan Galvan, Will Gasparino, Max Grubbs, Jared Thomas (UT), Ace Whitehead
Texas Tech: Damian Bravo, Gavin Kash, Cade McGee, T.J. Pompey, Kyle Robinson, Drew Woodcox
West Virginia: Aidan Major, Sam White (OF/UT), Kyle West

All-Freshman Team
Kuhio Aloy, BYU
Nathan Taylor, Cincinnati
Ace Reese, Houston
Dominic Voegele, Kansas
Blake Dean, Kansas State
Jaxon Willits, Oklahoma
Chase Brunson, TCU
Sam Myers, TCU
Will Gasparino, Texas
Mac Heuer, Texas Tech
Parker Hutyra, Texas Tech
T.J. Pompey, Texas Tech

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Cary Arbolida

Cade Citelli

Harold Coll

Justin Murray

Ace Reese

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