Nyisztor, Gebler Named Freshman All-Americans
Jun 09 | Baseball
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (June 9, 2010) – Rutgers freshmen Steve Nyisztor (Toms River, N.J.) and Tyler Gebler (Toms River, N.J.) were named Louisville SluggerFreshman All-Americans by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, the publication announced Wednesday.
Gebler broke the Rutgers single-season school record for saves with 12 in his first season “On the Banks.” He is also tied for fourth on the school’s career saves chart. The closer posted a 1.74 earned run average and struck out 18 in 36.0 innings spanning a team-high 28 appearances. Gebler’s ERA in league contests was 1.80. The freshman did not surrender an earned run in 23 of his 28 appearances, including shutout performances in his first five appearances that included shutout innings against No. 4 Georgia Tech and No. 12 Miami. The freshman also posted shutout performances in his final six appearances of the season.
Gebler appeared at least once in every series this past season. He posted his first collegiate save to seal RU’s first win of the season against Purdue. Against FAU, he came in with a 2-0 lead and the bases loaded in the eighth and induced a fly out to get out of the jam and retired the side in order in the ninth to earn the save and help snap a 12-game losing streak to FAU. In an 8-7 win at Georgetown, he came in during the eighth inning and with the tying run on third with two outs, he induced an inning-ending fly out and worked a 1-2-3 ninth for the save. In a 7-5 win at Georgetown, he came in midway through the eighth with the tying run at the plate and just one out and induced a ground ball to the shortstop with the bases loaded to get a fielder’s choice for the out and an inning-ending fly out to get out of the jam before posting a scoreless ninth for the save. The freshman held Notre Dame hitless in 3.1 innings of shutout relief to help RU earn a come-from-behind win in the series finale. He picked up his 10th and 11th saves against eventual BIG EAST Champion St. John’s in the final regular-season series and notched his 12th save against Connecticut to preserve a one-run lead in the BIG EAST Championship.
RU’s starting second baseman, Nyisztor appeared in all 56 games and started all but one contest. He led the Scarlet Knights with a .410 batting average, earning Second Team All-BIG EAST honors in his rookie season. His 94 hits tied for fourth-best on the Rutgers single-season hits chart. He drove in 51 runs and scored 52 from the No. 3 spot in the lineup. The freshman collected 24 extra-base hits, including 17 doubles, three triples and four home runs. He stole 11 bases on the year. The middle infielder was excellent defensively with just three errors in 278 chances. He helped turn 45 double plays and committed.
Nyisztor, who was also named the New Jersey Collegiate Baseball Association Division I Rookie of the Year, led the BIG EAST with a .434 batting average in league games. He ranked fourth overall in the league in hitting and first among freshmen at the conclusion of the regular season. The true freshman owned a 26-game hitting streak during the regular season and hit safely in 36 of his last 38 contests. He collected a season-high five hits twice in his rookie season at FIU (5-for-7) in March and in the BIG EAST Tournament against Connecticut (5-for-6). The first-year Scarlet Knight recorded 27 multi-hit games and drove in three or more runs in a contest on seven different occasions.
The freshman duo is the first Freshman All-Americans since Jaren Matthews (Teaneck, N.J.) was honored by the publication during his first season “On the Banks” in 2008.
Rutgers finished the 2010 season 30-26 overall and placed sixth in the BIG EAST. RU reached the semifinals of the conference tournament, earning wins against second-seeded Connecticut and third-seeded Pittsburgh along the way. The Scarlet Knights gave Hill his 1,000th career coaching victory in April of this past season.
