Mitch Abeita Season 2007

Honors & Awards

• 19th round Draft Pick (New York Yankees)
• 2008 Johnny Bench Award Semifinalist
• 2008 First-Team All-Big 12
• 2008 First-Team ABCA Midwest Region
• 2007 Honorable-Mention All-Big 12
• Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll (Fall 2007)

2008: Abeita was a two-year starter behind the plate who earned first-team All-Big 12 and ABCA Midwest Region honors in 2008 ? Johnny Bench Award semifinalist hit .337 with 10 homers and 49 RBIs, ranking among Big 12 leaders in average (19th), on-base percentage (.471, third) and walks (43, fourth) ? Tied for the team lead in hits with 63 while finishing second in both homers and RBIs ? Reached safely via a hit or walk in 54 of 56 games in 2008, while his 10 homers were  the most by a Husker catcher since Jed Morris had 23 in 2002 ? Hit .400 (4-for-10) with three RBIs and three walks during the NCAA Tournament, including a 3-for-3 afternoon against Eastern Illinois on May 30, his 18th multi-hit game of the year ? Was 2-for-12 with a homer and two RBIs at the Big 12 Tournament ? Was 3-for-9 with a homer, three RBIs and three walks in the series loss at No. 12 MU ? Homered and tied a career high with four RBIs vs. Creighton on May 13, going 2-for-4 ? Delivered his second walk-off hit of the season, with a ninth-inning single to cap NU’s five-run rally in a 9-8 win over Texas A&M on May 11 ? Was 4-for-11 with two runs scored in a twinbill against UL-Lafayette, driving in the winning run to cap the 14-inning nightcap ? Was 3-for-7 with five walks and four runs scored in the series win at Baylor ? Went 2-for-6 with four walks and four runs scored in two games against Creighton ? Powered the Huskers to a series win over Kansas, hitting .500 (5-for-10) with five RBIs and three walks, including a 2-for-4 effort with a career-high four RBIs on April 19 ? Hit .400 (4-for-10) with an RBI and three runs scored in the sweep of Texas Tech, going 2-for-4 with a double in the series opener on April 4 ? Went 4-for-11 with four RBIs against No. 13 Texas, driving in three runs in the series opener before going 2-for-4 with the go-ahead RBI the following night in a 2-0 win ? Hit .455 (5-for-11) with two RBIs and two runs scored against Oklahoma, as he matched his career high with three hits - including a ninth-inning homer - in the finale on March 23 ? Hit .333 (3-for-9) with a homer, three RBIs and three runs scored in the series sweep of Kansas State, as he also drew three walks and stole a base against the Wildcats ? Matched his career high with three runs scored against Nebraska-Kearney on March 4, going 2-for-3 with an RBI ? Went 2-for-2 and scored twice, as he reached safely in all four plate appearances against UC Riverside on March 2 ? Delivered a three-run pinch-hit homer to give the Huskers a 3-1 lead against UC Riverside on March 1 - the first pinch-hit homer by a Husker since the 2005 season ? Torched UC Riverside in a series sweep, hitting .444 (4-for-9) with two homers, five RBIs and five runs scored ? Went 2-for-5 with a pair of doubles in a victory over the Cardinal on Feb. 22 ? Hit .300 (3-for-10) with a homer, four walks and three runs scored in the series loss at Stanford

2007: Abeita earned the starting role behind the plate prior to the start of Big 12 play and put together a solid first season as a Husker ? Appeared in 46 contests, hitting .286 with a homer and 20 RBIs to garner honorable-mention All-Big 12 honors ? Made 40 starts and was the Huskers’ starting catcher until breaking his fibula in a home plate collision against Kansas State in the Big 12 Tournament on May 24, forcing him to miss the NCAA Regional ? Closed the year on a tear, hitting .357 (15-for-42) with four doubles and six RBIs in his final 14 games before the injury ? Totaled 11 multi-hit games on the year, including a career-high three hits against Baylor on May 11 ? Drove in 17 of his 20 runs in Big 12 action, hitting .303 and appearing in all 27 contests ? Went 5-for-10 with a pair of walks in the series win over Baylor, highlighted by his first career three-hit game on May 11 ? Batted .500 (3-for-6) with a pair of walks in two contests vs. No. 18 Coastal Carolina ? Hit safely in all three games against Kansas State, batting .500 (4-for-8) with two doubles, two sacrifices and two RBIs, including a crucial two-run double in the series-clinching win on April 28 ? Belted his first homer as a Husker in the series opener against No. 4 Texas on April 20 ? Was 2-for-4 with an RBI against No. 11 Wichita State on April 11 ? Went 3-for-12 with an RBI in three starts against Oklahoma State, including a 2-for-3 performance with an RBI and two runs scored on April 7 ? Had two hits and an RBI in NU’s 12-10 win over Creighton at Rosenblatt Stadium on April 3 ? Performed well in a series loss at No. 14 Texas A&M, hitting .455 (5-for-11) with four RBIs, three runs scored and a pair of multi-hit games ? Matched his season high with three RBIs, going 2-for-4 in the finale against the Aggies on April 1 ? Sparked NU’s win over Western Illinois on March 20, going 1-for-2 and scoring twice, as he doubled in the ninth and eventually came around to score the game-winning run in a 3-2 win ? Performed well in NU’s Big 12 opening series at Texas Tech, driving in five runs while hitting .272 with a pair of doubles, highlighted by a 2-for-5 night with two doubles and three RBIs on March 16 ? Broke a season-opening 0-for-8 slump with his first multi-hit game, going 2-for-4 in NU’s 4-3 win over No. 22 Alabama on March 10.

North Central Texas College/Duncanville High School: Abeita was a two-year starter for Coach Scott Harp at North Central Texas College, helping the squad to a 39-18 record and a third-place finish at regionals in 2006 ? Garnered NJCAA all-star honors as a sophomore, hitting .303 with five homers, 11 doubles and 27 RBIs as one of seven players from NCTC who signed with Division I programs in 2006 ? Selected to the Texas/New Mexico Junior College All-Star game in the fall of 2005 ? Spent the summer playing in the Texas Collegiate League for the Graham Roughnecks, batting .293 with four homers, 18 RBIs and nine doubles ? Hit .330 with four homers, 20 RBIs and 15 doubles during his freshman year at NCTC, while also posting a .990 fielding percentage and throwing out 42 percent of would-be runners ? Was a three-year performer for Coach Bob Rombach at Duncanville High School, hitting .400 with seven homers as a senior en route to earning NHSCA All-Star and all-district honors ? Helped his team to a third-place finish at the 2002 state tournament ? Led the Dallas Knights to the 2002 Mickey Mantle World Series title, winning four games on the mound and also serving as his team’s designated hitter ? Chose NU over Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and Dallas Baptist.

Personal: Born on April 7, 1986, in Oak Cliff, Texas ? Parents are Ron and Anne Abeita ? Has two sisters (Lauren and Addisun) ? Majors in sociology.

                                  Abeita, Mitch
Year       Avg   GP-GS     AB    R    H   2B   3B   HR  RBI   BB   SO   SB-ATT
2007....  .286   46-40    133   24   38   10    0    1   20   16   23    1-2
2008....  .337   56-54    187   45   63    7    0   10   49   43   29    7-7
TOTAL...  .316  102-94    320   69  101   17    0   11   69   59   52    8-9