Baseball lands eight on all-Southland Conference teams

May 23, 2005
Contact: Matt Schabert (210) 458-4930

Baseball lands eight on all-Southland Conference teams

SAN ANTONIO. – The University of Texas at San Antonio baseball team landed eight players on the all-Southland Conference teams, as announced by the league office on Monday. The Roadrunners had one second team honor, four third team selections, and three players named honorable mention.

Heading the list of eight was senior right-hander Aaron Rodriguez, who went 5-1 in conference games this year, and was named second-team all-Southland Conference. Rodriguez, who led the team in wins in ERA, picked up the first postseason accolade in his career.

Landing spots on the third team were junior shortstop Ryan Crew, sophomore third baseman Ryan Saltzgaber, senior designated hitter Stephen Holdren and senior centerfielder Sean Danielson.

Earning Honorable Mention awards were junior second baseman J.R. Voyles, senior catcher Chris Lewis and sophomore leftfielder Michael McKennon.

Northwestern State's Blake Jones, who hit .363 and also had eight saves as a closer, was named the league's Player of the Year. Lamar catcher Michael Ambort, who led the league with 16 home runs, was named Hitter of the Year, while Louisiana-Monroe's Matt Green, the SLC leader in strikeouts, was named Pitcher of the Year. Sam Houston State second baseman Isa Garcia earned Newcomer of the Year honors, while McNeese State Bryan Cartie capped off the player honors with the Freshman of the Year award.

Northwestern State head coach Mitch Gaspard, who led his team to 22 conference wins, a regular season title, and 40 overall wins, was named the Clay Gould Coach of the Year.

After beginning the year 0-3, Rodriguez became the ace of the Roadrunners' staff, going 6-0 in his next seven starts. Overall, Rodriguez posted a 7-5 record and led the staff with 63 strikeouts. He also recorded three complete games and surrendered only four homers in a team-high 106.2 innings.

Crew led the team in batting average (.356), runs (40), hits (72), triples (4) and toughest to strikeout in garnering the third all-conference selection of his career. Saltzgaber hit .289 on the season and helped the Roadrunners set the school record with 27 triples with four three-baggers. He also went 5-for-6 in stolen bases.

Holdren, who was named Hitter of the Week, on March 29, hit .269 with nine doubles, four triples and two homers. Danielson led the Roadrunners with a .354 average in conference games and hit .308 overall. He also led UTSA and ranked in the top five in the league with 19 stolen bases.

Voyles had a breakout season in his third campaign with UTSA. He ranked second on the team with a .312 batting average and went 8-for-8 on the base paths. In conference games, Voyles hit .327. Lewis led the team with nine home runs and 16 doubles in 2005. Of his 102 hits, 53 went for extra bases. McKennon hit .288 and ranked second on the team with 13 doubles.

The Roadrunners, who are seeded third in the Southland Conference Tournament presented by BellSouth, will take on third-seeded Texas State on Wednesday at 3 p.m.
 

-UTSA-