'Eaters Lead All-Big West Awards with Nine Honorees
May 30, 2018 | Baseball
Big West All-Conference Teams
IRVINE, Calif. --- All-Big West honors were unveiled for the 2018 season with a nine Anteaters making the grading, the most of any program in the conference.
The nine honorees for UC Irvine baseball are the most since the 2011 squad put up 10 Anteaters for awards. It's only the third time UCI has scored as many recipients joining the 10 from the 2011 squad and nine Anteaters in 2009.
The 'Eaters were also 1 of 3 programs to laud three first-teamers starting with ace Andre Pallante. The Anteaters' Friday night starter was the only pitcher in the conference to win 10 games going 6-1 in Big West play and led the conference overall with a 1.60 ERA which ranked sixth in the NCAA and is the second-lowest in a single season for an Anteater pitcher. The honor for Pallante is his first as he narrowly missed reigning in pitcher of the year honors, however he did win Big West Pitcher of the Week twice following his performance against Gonzaga and Portland, and he struck out 115 batters on the season, second-most in the Big West and fifth-most in a single-season for the Anteaters.
Joining Pallante on the first team were fellow senior position players Ryan Fitzpatrick and Parker Coss, and each of them also earned their first honor.
Fitzpatrick was the offensive leader for UC Irvine leading the team and conference in on-base percentage at .436 while topping the 'Eaters with 44 RBI and a .526 slugging finishing second in the conference in each category. His eight home runs tied him atop the squad on the season while he pounded out a .307 average on 59 hits and 14 doubles, all second-best on the squad as the team's first baseman.
Coss was the team's everyday third baseman finishing her career with over 200 games played. His .276 average was second among Big West third basemen and the highest of his Anteater career adding a home run and 14 RBIs on the campaign with 50 hits. He earned a lot of merit on his play defensively as arguably the conference's best defender at the hot corner, and Coss finished as the team's toughest player to strikeout going down once every 9.2 plate appearances.
On down the list were the pair of 'Eaters scoring second team honors in Cole Kreuter and Konnor Zickefoose.
Kreuter finished his Anteater career amongst the top 10 or 15 in many offensive categories and joined Coss as the 10th and 11th Anteaters all-time to play in over 200 games. He matched Fitzpatrick in the team lead with eight home runs including a pair of grand slams. He also matched him with 59 hits and finished second on the club with a .485 slugging percentage as well as his 39 RBIs with 22 coming in Big West play good for second-most. Kreuter was the Anteater leader with 15 doubles to finish with exactly 100 total bases on the year in addition to fine work with the glove posting a .974 fielding percentage at second base all toward his second All-Big West accolade.
Zickefoose scored his first honor in his first season with the 'Eaters moving to right field prior to the season where he registered two outfield assists. His bat really made the most noise with a club-high 60 hits including 27 in conference play where he also led the team with 14 of his runs, struck out just nine times, and hit a team high .346. Overall, he finished with a .306 average hitting five homers with 27 RBIs.
The 'Eaters finished off with four named honorable mention chocked full of first-timers and underclassmen.
Juniors Matt Reitano and Jordan Bocko each made the grade. Reitano hit .274 in Big West played adding two of his three home runs and 11 RBIs. Reitano was dynamite behind the plate catching 16 runners trying to steal, third-best in the conference, and he was 1 of 2 players to catch over 50% of attempted runners from stealing while allowing just three passed balls in his 43 games caught.
Bocko solidfied the closer role this season finishing with eight saves, fourth-best in the Big West, on top of a 2.98 ERA in his 45.1 innings of work. He added 47 strikeouts, second among primary relievers in the Big West, and won five games which leads all players that did not record a start in 2018.
Sophomore Christian Koss landed on the honorable mention squad amidst a talented crop of shortstops. Koss was reliable on defense finishing with the most assists at 159 along with a .963 fielding percentage which ranked second at the position. His offense came on in the month of May hitting nearly .400 to finish the season at .287 with a team high in triples with three out of his 56 hits in addition to four stolen bases which tied for the team lead and clubbing his first home run to go with 17 RBIs
The last recipient is the Anteaters' lone freshman awardwinner in outfielder Brendan Brooks. The freshman converted from his normal infield role served well above his means in the outfield with multiple outfield assists in addition to his clutch hitting. Brooks finished with a .308 average to lead the Anteaters this season becoming just the fifth freshman in program history to do so. He hit an even .300 in Big West play which includes his lone home run and 13 of his 23 total RBIs serving a steady role in 2018 scoring 22 runs and knocking 53 hits as the Anteaters utility extraordinaire.
The squad as a whole brought home a 32-24 record on the season with 16 wins each at home as well as on the road. The team finished 13-11 to tie for third place in the Big West after being picked in the preseason coaches poll to finish in sixth.
IRVINE, Calif. --- All-Big West honors were unveiled for the 2018 season with a nine Anteaters making the grading, the most of any program in the conference.
The nine honorees for UC Irvine baseball are the most since the 2011 squad put up 10 Anteaters for awards. It's only the third time UCI has scored as many recipients joining the 10 from the 2011 squad and nine Anteaters in 2009.
The 'Eaters were also 1 of 3 programs to laud three first-teamers starting with ace Andre Pallante. The Anteaters' Friday night starter was the only pitcher in the conference to win 10 games going 6-1 in Big West play and led the conference overall with a 1.60 ERA which ranked sixth in the NCAA and is the second-lowest in a single season for an Anteater pitcher. The honor for Pallante is his first as he narrowly missed reigning in pitcher of the year honors, however he did win Big West Pitcher of the Week twice following his performance against Gonzaga and Portland, and he struck out 115 batters on the season, second-most in the Big West and fifth-most in a single-season for the Anteaters.
Joining Pallante on the first team were fellow senior position players Ryan Fitzpatrick and Parker Coss, and each of them also earned their first honor.
Fitzpatrick was the offensive leader for UC Irvine leading the team and conference in on-base percentage at .436 while topping the 'Eaters with 44 RBI and a .526 slugging finishing second in the conference in each category. His eight home runs tied him atop the squad on the season while he pounded out a .307 average on 59 hits and 14 doubles, all second-best on the squad as the team's first baseman.
Coss was the team's everyday third baseman finishing her career with over 200 games played. His .276 average was second among Big West third basemen and the highest of his Anteater career adding a home run and 14 RBIs on the campaign with 50 hits. He earned a lot of merit on his play defensively as arguably the conference's best defender at the hot corner, and Coss finished as the team's toughest player to strikeout going down once every 9.2 plate appearances.
On down the list were the pair of 'Eaters scoring second team honors in Cole Kreuter and Konnor Zickefoose.
Kreuter finished his Anteater career amongst the top 10 or 15 in many offensive categories and joined Coss as the 10th and 11th Anteaters all-time to play in over 200 games. He matched Fitzpatrick in the team lead with eight home runs including a pair of grand slams. He also matched him with 59 hits and finished second on the club with a .485 slugging percentage as well as his 39 RBIs with 22 coming in Big West play good for second-most. Kreuter was the Anteater leader with 15 doubles to finish with exactly 100 total bases on the year in addition to fine work with the glove posting a .974 fielding percentage at second base all toward his second All-Big West accolade.
Zickefoose scored his first honor in his first season with the 'Eaters moving to right field prior to the season where he registered two outfield assists. His bat really made the most noise with a club-high 60 hits including 27 in conference play where he also led the team with 14 of his runs, struck out just nine times, and hit a team high .346. Overall, he finished with a .306 average hitting five homers with 27 RBIs.
The 'Eaters finished off with four named honorable mention chocked full of first-timers and underclassmen.
Juniors Matt Reitano and Jordan Bocko each made the grade. Reitano hit .274 in Big West played adding two of his three home runs and 11 RBIs. Reitano was dynamite behind the plate catching 16 runners trying to steal, third-best in the conference, and he was 1 of 2 players to catch over 50% of attempted runners from stealing while allowing just three passed balls in his 43 games caught.
Bocko solidfied the closer role this season finishing with eight saves, fourth-best in the Big West, on top of a 2.98 ERA in his 45.1 innings of work. He added 47 strikeouts, second among primary relievers in the Big West, and won five games which leads all players that did not record a start in 2018.
Sophomore Christian Koss landed on the honorable mention squad amidst a talented crop of shortstops. Koss was reliable on defense finishing with the most assists at 159 along with a .963 fielding percentage which ranked second at the position. His offense came on in the month of May hitting nearly .400 to finish the season at .287 with a team high in triples with three out of his 56 hits in addition to four stolen bases which tied for the team lead and clubbing his first home run to go with 17 RBIs
The last recipient is the Anteaters' lone freshman awardwinner in outfielder Brendan Brooks. The freshman converted from his normal infield role served well above his means in the outfield with multiple outfield assists in addition to his clutch hitting. Brooks finished with a .308 average to lead the Anteaters this season becoming just the fifth freshman in program history to do so. He hit an even .300 in Big West play which includes his lone home run and 13 of his 23 total RBIs serving a steady role in 2018 scoring 22 runs and knocking 53 hits as the Anteaters utility extraordinaire.
The squad as a whole brought home a 32-24 record on the season with 16 wins each at home as well as on the road. The team finished 13-11 to tie for third place in the Big West after being picked in the preseason coaches poll to finish in sixth.
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