COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Baseball sophomore righty Tanner Houck (Collinsville, Ill.) has been named a Preseason All-American by PerfectGame.com, as announced Monday (Jan. 11). Houck, who was a consensus Freshman All-American a year ago, landed on PerfectGame’s All-America Third Team on Monday. Houck is Mizzou’s first Preseason All-American since Kyle Gibson and Trevor Coleman earned the distinction in 2009.

Houck put together one of the best freshman seasons in Mizzou baseball history. His eight wins are the most by a Tiger freshman since Kyle Gibson (a former first-round draft pick) in 2007 and his 100.2 innings are the most ever by a Tiger freshman under Tim Jamieson. At the end of the regular season, he had thrown more innings than any other freshman in the country. He compiled a 3.49 ERA on the season, striking out 91 batters over 100.2 innings while walking just 12 in 15 starts as a freshman.

Houck was named to the Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List and was an All-SEC Freshman Team honoree as well. He helped Mizzou defeat three top-five teams – No. 6 South Carolina, No. 4 Florida and No. 1 Texas A&M – earning wins in two of those three starts. Houck spent his summer with USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team, where he led the team in innings pitched, strikeouts and starts while boasting an 11-1 strikeout-walk ratio and a .159 opponent batting average. He threw 4.0 perfect innings in a combined no-hitter against Cuba as well.

— Mizzou Athletics —