Barden picks up baseball honor
June 8, 2000
CORVALLIS, Ore. - Oregon State third baseman Brian Barden has been named to Collegiate Baseball newspaper's Freshman All-America team. Barden (Bonita, Calif./St. Augustine HS) was one of four third baseman named to the Collegiate Baseball squad, which was announced Wednesday.
Barden was a key to Oregon State's dramatic improvement during the 2000 season. After missing 6 games with a hip injury in late March, Barden settled in to hit .370 with 8 homers, 2 triples, 13 doubles and 49 RBIs for the season.
At the end of the regular season, Barden was seventh among the Pacific-10 leaders in batting average and he batted .435 with runners in scoring position for the season. In conference play, he batted .351 with 6 homers, 5 doubles and 26 RBIs.
Barden had OSU's longest hitting streak of the season, a 14-gamer from April 4-April 28 during which he batted .429 (27-for-63) with 3 homers, 1 triple, 9 doubles, 25 RBIs. Barden had 21 multi-hit games and 13 multi-RBI games this spring.
Barden also had a pair of grand slams, including a seventh-inning shot that gave OSU a 6-3 home win over Arizona on April 14.
Barden contributed not only at the plate, but also in the field as he fielded at a .949 clip with just 7 errors. Barden teamed with another true freshman, shortstop Will Hudson, to make the left side of the Beaver infield one of the best in the Pac-10 defensively.
A walkon, Barden moved into the starting role at third base by Opening Day and then added the role of cleanup hitter by midseason. Because of injuries in OSU's lineup, he also spent time at second base early in the season.
Barden helped the Beavers to a 28-27 overall record - an improvement of 8 1/2 games over 1999's 19-35 record - as OSU played perhaps the toughest schedule in its 91-season history of varsity baseball. Oregon State finished sixth in the Pacific-10 after being tabbed for last in the conference's preseson coaches poll.
