May 17, 1999
DENVER - The Western Athletic Conference today released its 1999 All-WAC baseball teams and postseason awards as selected by the leagues head coaches.
Four of the 24 players named to the two squads were from UNLV, including outfielder Ryan Ludwick on the first team.
TCU senior third baseman Royce Huffman was named the Player of the Year, while Freshman of the Year honors went to two second basemen, Fresno States Tom Creighton and San Jose States Junior Ruiz. Rice head coach Wayne Graham was selected as Coach of the Year.
Huffman, a senior from Missouri City, Texas (Elkins HS), was ranked in the top five in several categories. In WAC contests only, hewas third in batting average (.435), second in RBI (38), first in runs (40), third in hits (50), fourth in doubles (12), fourth in home runs (10), first in slugging percentage (.835) and third in on-base percentage (.521).
Creighton, a second baseman from Weldon, Calif. (Kern Valley HS), hit .335 for Fresno State, scored 49 runs, hit three doubles, one triple and stole eight bases in nine attempts. Creighton started 46 games and had a fielding percentage of .943. Ruiz, a second baseman from Union City, Calif. (James Logan HS), led the Spartans in hitting with a .358 average. He scored 41 runs, hit 10 doubles, four triples, two home runs and knocked in 28. He stole nine bases in 11 attempts and had a .907 fielding percentage while starting 50 games.
Graham led Rice to its third straight regular season title in the WAC with a 25-5 mark and a number one seed in the conference tournament this week. Rice is also 48-11 overall and has been ranked number one in the country four times this season. The 48 wins is a school record. Graham also won the award last year.
Rice led the conference with five players on the All-WAC first team. TCU placed two players while Brigham Young, Fresno State, Hawaii and UNLV each placed one. Two of the 11 first-team All-WAC performers from a year ago are repeat performers, including Huffman and Rices Damon Thames. Thames was the WACs Player of the Year in 1998.
New Mexico placed four players on the second team, followed by UNLV with three players and Hawaii and TCU with two apiece. Air Force and Brigham Young each placed one player on the second team.
UNLV MEMBERS OF 1999 ALL-WESTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE BASEBALL TEAMFirst TeamRyan Ludwick 6-4 205 Jr. OF Las Vegas (Durango HS)
Second TeamBrian Hertel 6-5 200 Jr. 1B Fresno, CA (College of the Sequoias)Eliott Saraba 5-11 165 Sr. SS Rialto, CA (Riverside CC)Jimmy Smith 6-3 210 Sr. RP Olympia, WA (Portland State)
