VanBenschoten to Make Major League Debut Wednesday For Pittsburgh
8/18/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
This is a well-deserved opportunity for a outstanding pitcher and young man, Kent State associate head coach Mike Birkbeck said. He is a fine representative of Kent State University and I wish he and his family the very best.
Acquired by the Pirates in the first round (8th overall) in June 2001 draft, VanBenschoten is in his fourth professional season in the Pirates organization. The former Kent State All-American has been ranked as the Pirates top prospect by Baseball America prior to the 2003 & 2004 seasons and was ranked the No. 38 overall minor league prospect entering the 2004 season. He also participated in the 2003 MLB All-Star Futures Game in Chicago and was a member of the United States Olympic Qualifying Team in 2003.
This season for Triple-A Nashville, VanBenschoten is 4-11 in 23 starts with a 4.72 ERA to go along with 101 strikeouts in 131.2 innings.
As a junior at Kent State in 2001, VanBenschoten batted .440 with an NCAA-leading 31 homers and 84 RBI for the Golden Flashes and became second KSU player to garner first team All-American honors, joining Thurman Munson (1968).
VanBenschoten currently holds the Kent State single-season records for runs (74), hits (99), RBI (84), home runs (31), walks (55) and is tied with Mike Bishop for the KSU career home run mark with 49 in just three seasons.
