Anderson, Matthews Earn ABCA/Rawlings All-Region Honors

Nebraska’s Max Anderson and Brice Matthews earned First-Team All-Central Region honors from the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Rawlings, the organization announced Tuesday.

The duo earned All-American recognition by Collegiate Baseball earlier this month after Anderson was a second-team selection and Matthews was a third-team honoree.

A semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award and NCBWA District 6 Player of the Year, Anderson was a unanimous First-Team All-Big Ten honoree while hitting .414 with 20 doubles, two triples, 21 home runs, 70 RBI and 51 runs scored.

The Omaha native became the first player in the country to reach 100 hits and finished with 101 hits on the season, which is sixth-most by a Husker in a single-season in program history. Anderson is the first Husker to conclude the season hitting above .400 since John Cole’s .418 batting average in 2001.

The junior became the first Big Ten player with 15 home runs in a conference season with a traditional schedule. Anderson finished the 2023 ranked fourth on the single-season charts in program history with 188 total bases while climbing to fifth with 21 home runs and 43 extra-base hits.

Matthews concluded his junior season batting .359 at the plate with 11 doubles, two triples, 20 home runs, 67 RBI and 61 runs scored as a First-Team All-Big Ten selection. With 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases, Matthews became the first player in program history and second player all-time in the Big Ten to reach the 20-20 club.

The Humble, Texas, native reached base safely in the first 52 games this season to extend his on-base streak to 55 games, which is the longest streak by a Husker since at least 1999. Matthews is tied for ninth on the single-season chart in program history with 20 home runs and is one of 10 Huskers all-time to reach the 20-homer mark at Nebraska.