Former Ankeny baseball star Brody Brecht has been named a freshman all-American by Collegiate Baseball.
Brecht was honored along with Iowa teammate Keaton Anthony, becoming the 10th and 11th Hawkeyes to earn freshman all-American honors and the first since Peyton Williams in 2020. It is the third time in program history Iowa has had multiple players earn freshman all-America honors in the same season.
Brecht earned the accolade after posting a 3.18 ERA in 17 pitching appearances. He allowed just 13 hits and 16 runs (eight earned) over 22 2/3 innings while racking up 44 strikeouts.
Brecht, who is also a wide receiver on the Iowa football team, surrendered just one hit for extra bases. He limited opposing batters to a .155 average.
The hard-throwing righty was nearly unhittable during the final two months of the season, allowing one earned run over 10 relief appearances. He allowed just four hits and struck out 28 over 13 1/3 innings from April 6-May 15.
Iowa finished the season with a 36-19 overall record, posting the eighth-highest win total in program history. The Hawkeyes finished in a tie for second in the Big Ten regular season standings and advanced to the Big Ten Tournament semifinals, where they became the first team to win two games on the same day at the tournament.
Brecht made his first career start in Iowa’s semifinal loss to Michigan.