2008 All-Mountain West Conference Baseball Team Announced

UNLV's Xavier Scruggs named MWC Player of the Year.

May 19, 2008

FORT WORTH, Texas - The Mountain West Conference announced its 2008 MWC Baseball All-Conference Team and postseason awards today as selected by the league's head coaches. UNLV first baseman Xavier Scruggs earned Player of the Year honors, while San Diego State right-hander Stephen Strasburg was named Pitcher of the Year, and New Mexico catcher Rafael Neda garnered Freshman of the Year accolades. TCU skipper Jim Schlossnagle earned his third consecutive Coach of the Year honor.

Regular-season champion TCU and second-place New Mexico headline this year's all-conference squad with eight selections apiece, while San Diego State has five honorees. This year's team was made up of 13 juniors, six sophomores, five seniors and two freshmen.

Scruggs, a 6-1, 215-pound junior first baseman from San Diego, Calif., became the second league player to win the MWC Triple Crown, as he led the league in batting average (.389), home runs (20) and RBI (65). He also led the MWC in slugging percentage (.778), on-base percentage (.489) and total bases (168). In addition, Scruggs ranked in the top-five in runs scored (60), doubles (20), hits (84) and walks (38). In conference games, he tied for the league lead in home runs (8), while ranking third in slugging percentage (.674), tied for third in walks (15), fourth in total bases (64) and tied for fifth in RBI (27).

Strasburg, a 6-4, 220-pound sophomore from San Diego, Calif., posted a 6-0 record in MWC games with an earned run average of 0.63 and 92 strikeouts. His ERA and strikeout totals are MWC all-time records in league play. He also set a conference game season record in opposing batting average, holding the opposition to a .136 percentage. Overall, he posted an 8-2 record and set new MWC records in ERA (1.59) and opposing batting average (.178), while striking out 128 batters. On the season, Strasburg was named Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week three times and National Baseball Writers Association Pro-Line Athletic National Pitcher of the Week on April 15. He was also named MWC Pitcher of the Week a record seven times in 2008.

Neda, from Obregon, Sonora, batted .324 overall with six home runs and MWC freshman-best totals of 43 RBI and 16 doubles. In league games, he was seventh in doubles (8) and also had three home runs, 21 RBI and 19 runs scored.

Schlossnagle, in his fifth season with TCU, led the Horned Frogs to their third consecutive regular-season title and a No. 1 seed in this year's MWC Championship. He has TCU on the verge of its second straight 40-win season, as the Horned Frogs head into the tournament as the 24th-ranked team in the nation. Schlossnagle has an overall record of 206-99 with TCU and a career record of 283-146.