SAN JOSE, Calif. – SJSU baseball pitchers Andrew Mitchel and Tevin Cadola were honored Tuesday evening at the 35th annual Hot Stove of Santa Clara Banquet held at the San Jose Elks Lodge. Mitchel was named College Player of the Year while Cadola was the Spartans' recipient of the Loyd Christopher Collegiate Academic Award.
Mitchel, a left-hander from Atwater, California, adds to an already impressive list of accolades after a tremendous debut season with the Spartans in 2018. He was a second team ABCA/Rawlings West All-Region honoree and the 2018 Mountain West Co-Pitcher of the Year, as well as a first team All-Mountain West selection. He was the first player to eclipse 100 strikeouts in 14 years and led the conference with 10.45 strikeouts per nine innings.
"I'm really proud of Andrew," head coach Brad Sanfilippo said. "His ability and determination became the personality of our team last year. I'm just really proud of his accomplishments. He's been recognized by the Mountain West and now the Santa Clara Hot Stove, and it's good to see him be recognized for his work."
Cadola, a product of Yreka, California, returned from an injury that sidelined the right-hander for all of 2017 and made 13 appearances and eight starts on the mound for the Spartans last season. SJSU went 7-1 in those starts, while Cadola finished with a 3-2 record and 4.63 ERA in 47.2 innings of work.
"Tevin is just such as great teammate," Sanfilippo said. "He worked so hard to get back from his surgery and to pitch through the pain that he went through, it just made last year special. He and Andrew both made last year special because of what they represented on the mound for us. Tevin, like Andrew, was someone that you could count on and he meant a lot to our team."
The Loyd Christopher Collegiate Academic Award is given annually to one member of the San Jose State, Santa Clara and Stanford baseball programs. It is named after the late Loyd Christopher, who spent much of his career as a scout after a long stint as a professional player. A $500 scholarship grant is awarded to the college player nominated by his coaches.
SJSU baseball season and single game tickets will be available around Feb. 1. The Spartans will get the season started on Feb. 15, against Santa Clara.