May 25, 2004

LAS VEGAS - Junior right fielder Eric Nielsen was named the Mountain West Conference's player of the year it was announced Tuesday evening. Senior outfielder Brent Johnson and pitchers Jake Vose, David Seccombe and Ben Scheinbaum were also named to the all-conference team.

Nielsen, a 6-0, 210-pound junior outfielder from Las Vegas (Silverado HS), led the MWC (conference games) in batting average (.459), hits (56), runs (45), RBI (57) and home runs (13). Nielsen is the first MWC player to lead the league in batting average, RBI and home runs in the overall and conference only statistics, and his 57 RBI in league play shattered the previous record of 45 set by last year's MWC Player of the Year, Fernando Valenzuela, Jr.

Nielsen was just one hit and one home run shy of conference records in both categories and he is just the third player in MWC history to hit over .400 on the season (.414), and committed just three errors in right field in 121 chances.

Johnson, a senior from Las Vegas (Durango HS), hit .405 in conference games, with 39 RBI and is currently fifth in the nation at 1.44 RBI per game. Vose, also a senior from Las Vegas (CCSN), posted a 7-2 record in conference play with a 5.18 conference ERA. Seccombe, a senior right-hander from Las Vegas (Cimmaron Memorial HS) posted a 6-1 record in MWC play with 49 strikeouts in 56.1 innings.

Rounding out the Rebel pitching triumvirate is southpaw reliever Ben Scheinbaum. Schieinbaum, also from the Vegas valley (Green Valley HS) made the all-conference team as a relief pitcher.

San Diego State's Scott Shoemaker was named the conference's Pitcher of the Year, while Aztec coach Tony Gwynn received Coach of the Year honors.