CONTRIBUTED BY AU ATHLETICS
AUBURN —
Auburn designated hitter Ike Irish has been named a 2023 Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American, the publication announced last Wednesday.
Irish becomes the 20th Freshman All-American in program history, including the first since four Tigers — Tanner Burns, Cody Greenhill, Edouard Julien and Steven Williams — earned the distinction in 2018.
Irish, who was previously named to the SEC All-Freshman Team and Auburn Regional All-Tournament Team, finished the season as the team leader in average (.361), hits (86) and doubles (24) while ranking second in RBI (50) and total bases (130) and third in runs (48).
Irish’s 24 doubles set an Auburn freshman record, eclipsing assistant coach Gabe Gross’ 23 doubles from 1999, and are tied for the sixth most in program history, including the most since 2005. He also led the Southeastern Conference and freshmen nationally in the category. The Hudsonville, Michigan, native ranked third in the league and fourth among freshmen nationally in hits, while his batting average was also good for a top-10 mark in the SEC.
Irish started all 58 games in his first season on The Plains and led the team with 28 multi-hit games while tying for second with 14 multi-RBI efforts. He started his Auburn career with 13 multi-hit performances in his first 17 games, good for a .465 clip entering SEC play.
