May 22, 2007
LAS VEGAS - UNLV senior outfielder Ryan Kowalski earned first team All-Mountain West Conference honors, as the league announced its all-conference team and postseason award winners on Tuesday night, which were selected by the league's head coaches.
Kowalski, the lone Rebel voted onto an all-conference team, finished the regular season with a .335 (68-203) batting average to go with 12 doubles, two triples, one home run and 38 RBI. Kowalski was second on the team with 16 stolen bases and 25 walks. He stepped up his level of production once MWC play started, hitting .418 (38-91), which was the second-highest mark in the league. Earlier this year Kowalski had an 11-game hitting streak, which tied for the second-longest stretch by a Rebel this season, and the native of San Diego, Calif., also had three-straight game-winning hits. He earned MWC Player of the Week honors on April 2 following his clutch three-game streak.
New Mexico second baseman Jordan Pacheco earned Player of the Year honors, while BYU right-hander Jesse Craig was named Pitcher of the Year, and BYU third baseman Steve Parker and San Diego State right-handed pitcher Stephen Strasburg shared Freshman of the Year honors. TCU skipper Schlossnagle garnered his second consecutive Coach of the Year accolade.
Regular-season champion TCU headlines this year's all-conference squad with 11 selections, while San Diego State has six honorees, and BYU and New Mexico have three student-athletes on the all-conference team. Utah has two honorees and Air Force and UNLV each have one selection. This year's team was made up of 12 juniors, 10 seniors, four sophomores and one freshman.
2007 All-Mountain West Conference Baseball Team
FIRST TEAM
Position Name TeamCatcher Andrew Walker* TCUFirst Base Jay Brossman*!^ UtahSecond Base Jordan Pacheco*! New MexicoShortstop Bryan Kervin* TCUThird Base Nick Romero* San Diego StateOutfield Austin Adams* TCUOutfield Clint Arnold TCUOutfield Ryan Kowalski UNLVDesignated Hitter Karl Bolt Air ForcePitcher Jesse Craig* BYUPitcher Bobby LaFromboise New MexicoPitcher Jake Arrieta* TCURelief Pitcher Sam Demel* TCU
SECOND TEAM
Position Name TeamCatcher Frank LoNigro San Diego StateFirst Base Daniel Stovall*^ New MexicoFirst Base Matt Vern TCUSecond Base Corey Shimada UtahShortstop Troy Hanzawa San Diego StateThird Base Steve Trout TCUOutfield Collin Fanning BYUOutfield Brandon Glover San Diego StateOutfield Keith Conlon TCUDesignated Hitter Apana Nakayama BYUPitcher Lance Sewell San Diego StatePitcher Chance Corgan TCUPitcher Chris Johnson TCURelief Pitcher Stephen Strasburg San Diego State
Player of the Year - Jordan Pacheco, New MexicoPitcher of the Year - Jesse Craig, BYUCo-Freshman of the Year - Steve Parker, BYU; Stephen Strasburg, San Diego StateCoach of the Year - Jim Schlossnagle, TCU
*2006 All-MWC Selection!2005 All-MWC Selection^2004 All-MWC Selection
