May 27, 2008

LONG BEACH--Long Beach State junior first baseman Shane Peterson (Temecula) was named the program's first academic All-American, earning a spot on the first team thanks to a 3.85 GPA as a Finance, Real Estate and Law major.

Peterson ranks amongst the Big West top-10 in nine different offensive categores, and leads the Big West in batting (.399) and on-base percentage (.510), while ranking second in slugging (.601). He was named first team Academic All-District earlier this month.

Peterson was a first team All-Big West pick in 2007 and was a second team All-Big West pick in 2006.

Peterson, who is eligible for the draft, is rated by Baseball America as the 75th-best prospect in the June Amateur Draft.