Oregon State Baseball: Collegiate Baseball Names Kevin Abel 2021 Preseason All-American

Collegiate Baseball got around to releasing their 2021 preseason All-Americans for the Division I level and Oregon State hurler Kevin Abel was named to the publication’s third-team squad, according to a release on their website.

Abel is one of eleven pitchers selected to the third team, joining fellow Pac-12 righty in Arizona State’s Boyd Vander Kooi. Top pro-prospect pitcher Kumar Rocker from Vanderbilt was chosen as the 2021 National Player Of The Year.

The Beavers had no players listed on Collegiate Baseball’s first or second team and Oregon State was recently selected 49th overall in the same publication’s preseason poll of best teams in the country, trailing behind conference foes UCLA (#3), Arizona (#10) and Arizona State (#15).

Last season was the first for the Beavers under head coach Mitch Canham, who led the team to a 5-9 mark before the COVID-19 pandemic abruptly cancelled the campaign. The program is expected to rebound from that slow start in 2021 with help from players like Abel, who announced this summer he’d back for another season on campus and not turn pro.