CORVALLIS, Ore. – Oregon State pitchers Ben Ferrer and Cooper Hjerpe and outfielder Jacob Melton have all been named All-Americans by D1Baseball.com, the media organization announced Friday. Hjerpe and Melton have been named first team, and Ferrer is a third-teamer.
Oregon State is the only program with two first-team selections and the Beavers are one of 10 teams with three or more selections among the three D1Baseball.com teams.
That brings six first-team selections to both Hjerpe and Melton. Both were previously honored by Collegiate Baseball, the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA), the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA), the College Baseball Foundation and Perfect Game.
Hjerpe and Melton are just the fifth and sixth players in school history to earn five or more First-Team All-American honors in the same season. They’re joined by Michael Conforto (2014), Jake Thompson (2017), Trevor Larnach (2018) and Adley Rutschman (2019).
Ferrer, meanwhile, has earned his first All-America honor. His honor gives Oregon State four this year, with Justin Boyd earning a second-team honor by the NCBWA.
Hjerpe, also the National Pitcher of the Year by the College Baseball Foundation and Perfect Game, finished the 2022 season with an 11-2 record and 2.53 earned run average. He held opponents to a .180 batting average, allowing 67 hits in 103 1/3 innings. He struck out an Oregon State record 161 batters, which also currently leads the nation.
Melton batted .360 and hit 22 doubles with 17 home runs. The Medford, Ore., native drove in 83 runs, which tied Adley Rutschman (2018) for the most ever in a single season at Oregon State. He did set the Oregon State single-season record with 175 total bases, and he also swiped 21 bases.
Ferrer went 4-0 in 2022, posting a 1.72 earned run average. Opponents batted just .176 against him, and Ferrer allowed 38 hits in 62 2/3 innings. He picked up three saves and recorded 78 strikeouts.
