Neri Earns Big 12 Championship All-Tournament Team HonorsNeri Earns Big 12 Championship All-Tournament Team Honors

Neri Earns Big 12 Championship All-Tournament Team Honors

by James Warnick

ARLINGTON, Texas – UCF senior catcher Danny Neri was named to the 2024 Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship All-Tournament Team as announced by the league on Saturday night at Globe Life Field.

The catcher Neri had an outstanding week en route to earning All-Tournament Team accolades. Neri hit an even .500 (5-for-10) at UCF’s inaugural appearance at the event with three home runs, a double, four runs scored, and five runs batted in. He also posted a ridiculous 2.143 OPS over three games, with a 1.500 slugging percentage and a .643 on-base percentage.  

In the Black and Gold’s opening-round extra-inning win over Cincinnati, Neri set a Big 12 Championship single-game record by belting out three home runs in the contest. In that game, he hit out a solo homer in the second inning, a two-run blast in the seventh, and a go-ahead solo shot in the 11th. Neri notched career-highs in that game in hits (four), RBIs (four), and home runs (three).

The All-Tournament Team recognition marks Neri’s second conference award of the week, as he previously received All-Big 12 Honorable Mention honors on Monday. For the season, Neri is batting .297 with seven home runs, four doubles, 27 runs scored, 26 RBIs, and a .961 OPS.

As a team, UCF finished its 2024 Big 12 Championship run with a 2-1 record. The eighth-seeded Knights won their first two games to advance to the semifinals. The Black and Gold defeated the five-seed Cincinnati on Tuesday by a score of 6-5 in 11 innings, before knocking off the two-seed and eventual tournament champion Oklahoma State Cowboys in the quarterfinals on Thursday, 7-6 in 10 innings. UCF had their inaugural run at the event come to a close in a rematch against Oklahoma State on Friday in the single-elimination semifinal round by a score of 10-1.

The 35-19 Knights will now await a possible at-large selection to the NCAA Tournament. The NCAA Baseball Selection Show will be held Monday at noon ET on ESPN2/ESPNU.

2024 Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship All-Tournament Team

C: Danny Neri, UCF
1B: Kurtis Byrne, TCU
2B: Jackson Nicklaus, Oklahoma
3B: Anthony MacKenzie, Oklahoma
SS: Jaxon Willits, Oklahoma
OF: Kendall Pettis, Oklahoma
OF: Carson Benge, Oklahoma State
OF: Nolan Schubart, Oklahoma State
OF: Sam Myers, TCU
DH: Easton Carmichael, Oklahoma
SP: Braden Davis, Oklahoma
SP: Sam Garcia, Oklahoma State
RP: Grant Stevens, Oklahoma

A tie resulted in four outfielders on the All-Tournament Team

Most Outstanding Player: Carson Benge, Oklahoma State