In what has become somewhat of a tradition, another LIU pitcher has received the Axcess Baseball Pitcher of the Year Award.
Joshua Loeschorn joins Jake DeCarli (2015) and James Varela (2018) as recipients of the award given to the top collegiate pitcher on Long Island. While being regarded as the best in anything is impressive, doing so as just a freshman makes it even more remarkable.
The N.J. native entered the season as a relative unknown but quickly put himself in the conversation of best pitcher in ECC. That is no easy task as the reigning ECC Pitcher of the Year and Axcess Baseball Pitcher of the Year shared a dugout with him. Varela virtually re-wrote the Pioneers record book for pitchers, but Loeschorn is certainly on the right track.
He compiled an unblemished record of 10-0 with a dazzling ERA of 1.34 over 80.2 IP. He proved to be durable, pitching four complete games and even adding three saves. He held opposing batters to an average of .170.
With the school moving up to Division-I, Loeschorn is where he belongs. With his combination of velocity, command and mental toughness, there is no question he will be a capable pitcher for LIU once again.
Here’s his season accolades according to the LIU website.
- Appeared in 16 games, starting 10 and had a 10-0-3 record
- Named Second Team All-America by the NCBWA
- Named ABCA/Rawlings East Region Pitcher of the Year
- Named All-Region by ABCA/Rawings, the NCBWA and D2CCA
- Named ECC Pitcher and Rookie of the Year and to the ECC All-Conference First Team
- Honored as ECC Pitcher of the Week (4/8 and 5/6) and ECC Rookie of the Week (4/22)
- Had a nation-best .74 WHIP
- Had the second-best ERA in the nation (1.34)
- Averaged 5.47 hits allowed per nine innings which ranked fifth nationally
- His 1.23 walks allowed per nine innings ranked 15th nationally and his 6.09 strikeout-to-walk ratio was 20th
- Tallied 67 strikeouts, only gave up 11 walks, threw four complete games and had two shutouts
- Struck out a season-high 12 and shut out NYIT on 4/29
- Threw a complete game shutout with seven strikeouts and no walks at Mercy on 4/7
