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SDSU's Strasburg and UNLV's Scruggs Named 2008 NCBWA District Players of the Year
June 6, 2008 COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - San Diego State right-handed pitcher Stephen Strasburg and UNLV first baseman Xavier Scruggs are two of nine collegiate baseball student-athletes who have been named 2008 National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association of America (NCBWA) District Players of the Year, it was announced on June 6. Scruggs, from San Diego, Calif., won 2008 NCBWA District VIII Player of the Year honors after putting together one of the most dominating offensive seasons in league history. The 2008 Conference Player of the Year, Scruggs became the second player in league history to win the MWC Triple Crown, as he led the league in batting average, home runs and RBI through the regular season. Scruggs was named MWC Player of the Week three times on the season and was named CollegeBaseballInsider.com National Player of the Week on April 7. Strasburg, the 2008 MWC Pitcher of the Year, shared the District IX Player of the Year award with Brian Matusz (University of San Diego). Strasburg earned 2008 Louisville Slugger First-Team All-American recognition after turning in a record of 8-3, a 1.57 earned run average and a .181 opponent batting average. His 133 strikeouts (in 97.1 innings) leads the nation through this week, while his ERA and strikeouts per nine innings (12.30) ranks fourth. In league play, he compiled a mark of 6-0 with 92 strikeouts while opponents hit just .136 against him. Strasburg set MWC records for strikeouts, ERA and opponent batting average in both overall and league games. He had a string of six consecutive games with double-figure strikeouts, including a 23-K performance (vs. Utah), which is the third-most in a collegiate game nationally and the most since 1981. Strasburg was named MWC Pitcher of the Week a record seven times this season, including a stretch of five consecutive weeks when he picked up the award. He also garnered three national player of the week nods in 2008. Strasburg has been invited to the USA Baseball National Trials this summer. Scruggs and Strasburg are the fourth and fifth consecutive Conference players, respectively, to garner district player of the year recognition, joining New Mexico's Jordan Pacheco (2007 District VIII), Utah's Ryan Khoury (2006 District VIII) and BYU's Brandon Taylor (2005 District VIII).
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