Joey Railey Named West Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Year

May 21, 2008

(San Bruno, CA) - Senior Joey Railey earned the first ever West Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Year Award and five other Dons were named to All-WCC Team after successful seasons on the Hilltop, as announced by the conference today.

Junior outfielder Eric Thames from Pepperdine was named Player of the Year, while junior LHP Brian Matusz from San Diego took home Pitcher of the Year honors. Right-handed pitcher Thain Simon from Santa Clara was named Freshman of the Year, while former San Diego's Rich Hill earned Coach of the Year accolades.

After playing a near perfect second base for the Dons, Railey earned the WCC Defenseve Player of the Year Award, committing just one error in 249 chances during the season, and posting a .996 fielding percentage. Railey also earned his first All-WCC First Team selection after a record breaking year on the Hilltop. A unanimous choice by conference coaches, the Pittsburg, CA native finished his senior season batting .326 (78-for-239) with a team high 18 doubles (third in conference), five homeruns, 39 RBI, 37 runs scored, 34 walks (ninth in conference) and nine stolen bases. His 78 hits were fourth in WCC standings. In conference only play, he batted .307 (27-for-88), with eight doubles, three homeruns, a team leading 20 RBI, 13 runs, and a team leading 11 walks. He resides on no less than five Dons All-Time charts including tied for third in hits (239), fourth in walks (104), sixth in doubles (42), ninth in runs scored (129), and 13th in batting average (.328).

Freshman left-hander Matt Lujan and senior outfielder Kyle Morgan joined Railey on the First Team. Lujan led the Dons in conference play with a 5-2 record. He had a 4.19 ERA in seven starts, and struck out a team high 25 in 43.0 innings. Overall, he led the team with a 7-2 record (sixth in conference) and a 3.19 ERA (eighth in conference) in 11 starts. In 79.0 innings (sixth in conference), Lujan struck out 51 and walked just 29, while holding opponents to a .255 batting average.

Morgan impressed in his only season at USF, batting .298 (62-for-208), with 15 doubles, one triple, six homeruns, a team leading 50 RBI, 39 runs scored, and six stolen bases. In conference play, he fared even better, batting .350 (28-for-80), with a team leading nine doubles, one triple, one homerun, 16 RBI and 12 runs scored.

Lujan also earned All-WCC Freshman team accolades along with Connor Bernatz. The outfielder finished second on the team with a .347 batting average (66-for-190), with 10 doubles, one triple, two homeruns, 26 RBI, 28 runs scored, 14 walks, and three stolen bases.

Seniors Mitchell Bialosky and Matt Baugh round out the Dons honors, both earning Honorable Mentions.

Bialosky helped the Dons both at the plate and on the mound this season. As a pitcher, Bialosky went 5-6 with a 4.50 ERA and a team high five saves in 23 appearances. In 64 innings, he owned a 51-11 strikeout to walk ratio. As a first baseman, the Yorba Linda, CA native batted .326 (76-for-233), with 15 doubles, a team high eight homeruns, 38 RBI, and a team high 42 runs scored. His 76 hits are sixth in conference. He finishes his career seventh on the Dons RBI chart (112), eighth on the homerun list (19), and 10th on the Dons hits chart (193).

Baugh transferred from the University of Arizona a season ago and turned into the Dons Pitcher of the Year in 2008. The Antioch, CA native finished the season 5-3 with a 4.00 ERA in 15 appearances (13 starts/third in conference). In a team and conference leading 101.1 innings, Baugh struck out 58 and walked just 21, while holding opponents to .279. In WCC play, he owned a 2-1 record and a 3.74 ERA in seven starts. In a team high 53.0 innings, he struck out 24.

WCC INDIVIDUAL AWARDS Player of the Year: Eric Thames, Pepperdine Pitcher of the Year: Brian Matusz, San Diego Freshman of the Year: Thain Simon, Santa Clara Coach of the Year: Rich Hill, San Diego Defensive Player of the Year: Joey Railey, San Francisco

ALL-WCC TEAM Brady Fuerst# - Santa Clara - 2B - JR Nate Garcia# - Santa Clara - RHP - SO Nick Gaudi - Pepperdine - RHP - SR Logan Gelbrich#* - San Diego - C/OF - SR AJ Griffin#* - San Diego - RHP - SO Drew Heid - Gonzaga - OF - SO Riley Henricks - Portland - SS - FR Ryan Heroy# - Pepperdine - 1B - JR Kyle Jensen# - Saint Mary's - OF - SO Jon Karcich# - Santa Clara - SS - SO Evan LeBlanc# - Santa Clara - OF - JR Matt Lujan - San Francisco - LHP - FR Brian Matusz#* - San Diego - LHP - JR James Meador# - San Diego - OF - SO Tommy Medica#* - Santa Clara - C - SO Bryce Mendonca# - Pepperdine - 3B - JR Kyle Morgan - San Francisco - OF - SR Nathan Newman# - Pepperdine - RHP - JR Joey Railey# - San Francisco - 2B - SR Josh Romanski#* - San Diego - LHP - JR Thain Simon - Santa Clara - RHP - FR Angelo Songco#* - LMU - OF - SO Joel Staples - Saint Mary's - SS - JR Eric Thames# - Pepperdine - OF - JR Ryan Wheeler# - LMU - 1B - SO

*Previous Times an All-WCC First Team Pick; #Unanimous Selection

ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM Scott Alexander - Pepperdine - LHP Connor Bernatz - San Francisco - OF Kyle Blair - San Diego - RHP Matt Bywater - Pepperdine - LHP Justin Fazio - Saint Mary's - UTL Riley Henricks - Portland - SS Matt Lujan - San Francisco - LHP Cody Martin - Gonzaga - RHP Thain Simon - Santa Clara - RHP Sammy Solis - San Diego - LHP

HONORABLE MENTION GON- Matt Fields, Cody Martin, Evan Wells LMU- A.J. LaMonda PEP- Matt Bywater, Chase d'Arnaud POR- Danny Meier; SMC- Brian Hawkins USD- Kevin Hansen, Kevin Muno, Jose Valerio USF- Matt Baugh, Mitchell Bialosky SCU- Ryan Conan, Nathan Faulkner, Matt Long, Mark Willinsky