Texas Tech baseball’s Grant Little has been named a First Team Freshman All-America honoree by the National College Baseball Writer’s Association (NCBWA), the publication announced today.

It is the first All-America accolade for the Midland outfielder. He is also the eighth freshman Red Raider to receive the award in five years under head coach Tim Tadlock and his staff, and the second in 2017.

Earlier this month, freshman third baseman Josh Jung earned freshman All-America accolades from Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, while Steven Gingery (First Team) and Hunter Hargrove (Third Team) also picked up All-America nods by CB Newspaper. It was the first of two for Gingery this season, who received first team honors from Baseball America last week.

Last season, Davis Martin earned Freshman All-America status from the NCBWA, while Barrett Barnes in 2010 was the first from Tech to pick up the honor.

Little appeared in 53 games in 2017, starting 49 in the outfield for the Red Raiders. He compiled a .335 average at the plate, racking up 69 hits, including 17 doubles, three triples and two homers. He also recorded 52 runs and drove in 34 RBI.

He finished his first year in the scarlet & black with a team-high 24 multi-hit games, which featured seven three-hit performances and two four-hit bids at New Mexico State on April 4 and against Kansas on May 18. In the two games following his last four-knock outing against Kansas, Little had two multi-double days, throwing down two on May 19 and three against the Jayhawks in the series finale, helping Tech clinch the Big 12 championship.

Little was one of four Red Raiders this season to produce five or more RBI in a game, doing so in the 21-3 rout of TCU on April 30. In that contest, he tallied three hits, coming a triple away from the cycle, driving home five RBI and scoring three times. Overall, Little capped the season with 10 multi-RBI performances.

In Big 12 action, Little put up 26 hits with a team-best nine doubles, along with a triple and a home run. He also scored 19 times and recorded 16 RBI for a .333 batting average and .513 slugging clip. His work during conference play helped him earn unanimous All-Big 12 Freshman Team honors.

COURTESY OF TEXAS TECH ATHLETICS