May 22, 2006
LAS VEGAS - UNLV baseball had relief pitcher Jabe Beard and outfielder Keith Smith selected to the All-Mountain West Conference First Team, the league announced tonight as voted on by the league's head coaches.
Beard, a senior from Henderson, Nev., was stellar coming out of the bullpen for the Rebels, going 4-1 with a 3.35 ERA and four saves in a team-high 24 appearances. He struck out 50 batters in 48.1 innings of work and walked just 11 batters on the year.
Smith, a junior from Anaheim, Calif., was one of UNLV's top hitters throughout the season and currently has a team-high .357 (74-207) batting average to go along with a team-best 13 home runs. Smith has knocked in 66 runs. He hit one of the more dramatic home runs in recent Rebel history this season, a pinch-hit grand slam in the bottom of the seventh inning against defending national champion Texas at home. The round tripper propelled UNLV to a 13-12 win over Texas.
Utah shortstop Ryan Khoury earned Player of the Year honors, while New Mexico left-hander Danny Ray Herrera and TCU right-hander Jake Arrieta shared Pitcher of the Year honors. TCU skipper Jim Schlossnagle was selected as Coach of the Year.
Regular-season champion TCU headlined this year's all-conference squad with seven selections, while San Diego State and New Mexico had five selections each. BYU and Utah had four student-athletes on the all-conference team, while UNLV had two honorees. This year's team was made up of six seniors, 11 juniors, eight sophomores and two freshmen.
First Team
Position Name, TeamCatcher Andrew Walker, TCUFirst Base Chad Huffman, TCUSecond Base *Jordan Pacheco, New MexicoShortstop Ryan Khoury, UtahThird Base Ian Hollick, New MexicoOutfield *Ben Saylor, BYUOutfield Austin Adams, TCUOutfield Keith Smith, UNLVDesignated Hitter *Chris Carlson, New MexicoPitcher *Danny Ray Herrera, New MexicoPitcher *Bruce Billings, San Diego StatePitcher Jake Arrieta, TCURelief Pitcher Sam Demel, TCURelief Pitcher Jabe Beard, UNLV
Second Team
Position Name, TeamCatcher Casey Nelson, BYUFirst Base Daniel Stovall, New MexicoFirst Base *Jay Brossman, UtahSecond Base Nick Romero, San Diego StateShortstop Bryan Kervin, TCUThird Base Matt Carpenter, TCUOutfield *Quintin Berry, San Diego StateOutfield Paul Smyth, San Diego StateOutfield John Welsh, UtahDesignated Hitter Kasey Ko, BYUPitcher Jesse Craig, BYUPitcher Justin Masterson, San Diego StatePitcher *Josh Cooper, Utah
* 2005 All-MWC Selection
Player of the Year - Ryan Khoury, Utah Co-Pitchers of the Year - Danny Ray Herrera, New Mexico; Jake Arrieta, TCU Coach of the Year - Jim Schlossnagle, TCU
