Pac-10 2008 All-Conference Honors Announced

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Arizona State captures the Player, Pitcher, Newcomer and Coach of the Year awards.

Arizona State’s Brett Wallace Named Pac-10 Player of the Year

Arizona State’s Mike Leake Named Pac-10 Pitcher of the Year

Washington State’s Paul Gran Named Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year

Arizona State’s Jason Kipnis Named Pac-10 Newcomer of the Year

Arizona State’s Pat Murphy Named Pac-10 Pitcher of the Year

Media Release

(Walnut Creek, CA) – Arizona State junior third baseman Brett Wallace was named the 2008 Pacific-10 Conference Baseball Player of the Year, while teammate sophomore right-hander Mike Leake earned Pitcher of the Year honors and Washington State senior Paul Gran was selected as the Defensive Player of the Year. Arizona State freshman outfielder Jason Kipnis was named Newcomer of the Year in a vote by the Conference baseball coaches. Arizona State’s Pat Murphy earned Coach of the Year honors, Commissioner Tom Hansen announced today.

Wallace, from Sonoma, Calif., garnered his second consecutive Pac-10 Player of the Year award. Wallace leads the Conference in seven of the 21 batting categories, including batting average (.412), on-base percentage (.527), runs scored (77), hits (89), and runs batting in (78). Wallace also leads the Pac-10 with 20 homers and 165 total bases, while ranking among the Conference leaders in slugging percentage (.764, 2nd), walks (42, t-4th), and steal attempts (14, t-6th). A Pac-10 Player of the Week honoree on Feb. 26, Wallace is now sitting in sixth place on the ASU all-time charts for career home runs with 43.

Leake, from Fallbrook, Calif., leads the Conference in innings pitched with 104.2 and boasts an ERA of 3.18, second-best in the Conference. Leake earned his 20th career victory with his complete game win on April 25, becoming only the ninth Sun Devil in history to win at least 20 games in their second year in Tempe and only fourth sophomore to accomplish that feat. The semifinalist for the Roger Clemens award ranks among the Conference leaders in wins (9, 2nd) and strike outs (94, 4th).

Gran, from Bothell, Wash., has started in all 54 of the Cougars’ games this season. The senior infielder is fielding at a .994 clip this season and has only committed one error in 163 chances. In addition, he is batting .313 in 211 at-bats, leads the league with seven sac flies, and ranks among the Conference leaders in several categories including RBI (55, t-8th), and runs scored (50, 10th). Gran helped the Cougars achieve their third-straight winning season, something Washington State had not accomplished since 1994.

Kipnis, from Northbrook, Ill., helped Arizona State clinch its second consecutive Pac-10 title this season. He started all 56 of the Sun Devil games played this season, boasting a .367 average in 210 at-bats. The sophomore transfer ranks in the top three in various batting categories among his team, including a team-leading six triples, 15 doubles (t-2nd), 13 home runs (3rd) and 67 RBI (3rd). He also boasts a .487 on-base percentage and a .618 slugging percentage.

Murphy earns his third, and second consecutive, Pac-10 Coach of the Year award after leading the Sun Devils to their second sequential Pac-10 title. Arizona State was picked to finish second in the Pac-10 coaches’ preseason poll, and the Sun Devils have been among the top-10 in the national polls all season. On April 4, Murphy captured his 200th career victory in Pac-10 play and now has the third most Pac-10 victories among active coaches.

ALL-PAC-10 TEAM

Name – School

Alden Carrithers – UCLA

Jason Castro – STAN

Kyle Conley – WASH

David Cooper (2) – CAL

Erik Davis – STAN

Ike Davis (3) – ASU

Jon Gaston – ARIZ

Paul Gran – WSU

Grant Green – USC

Preston Guilmet (2) – ARIZ

Jason Kipnis – ASU

Mike Leake (2) – ASU

Jorden Merry – WASH

Randy Molina – STAN

Ryan Ortiz – OSU

Petey Paramore (3) – ASU

Cord Phelps – STAN

Sean Ratliff (2) – STAN

Tyson Ross (2) – CAL

Josh Satin – CAL

Daniel Schlereth – ARIZ

T.J. Steele – ARIZ

Jason Stoffel – ARIZ

Drew Storen – STAN

Brett Wallace (2) – ASU

(2) – Two-time All-Conference selection

(3) – Three-time All-Conference selection

Honorable Mention: Charles Brewer, So., UCLA; Gavin Brooks, So., UCLA; Nick Buss, Jr., USC; Ryan Cook, Jr., USC; Travis Coulter, Jr., WSU; Kevin Couture, So., USC; Brandon Crawford, Jr., UCLA; Jermaine Curtis, Jr., UCLA; Charlie Cutler, Jr., CAL; Joey Dunn, Sr., WASH; Matt Gorgen, Jr., CAL; Casey Haerther, So., UCLA; Nick Haughian, Jr., WASH; Brett Jackson, So., CAL; Brendan Lafferty, Jr., UCLA; Andy Lentz, Sr., WASH; Roberto Lopez, Sr., USC; Jayson Miller, Sr., WSU; Kevin Miller, Fr., CAL; Brent Milleville, Jr., STAN; Tommy Milone, Jr., USC; Jim Murphy, Sr., WSU; Tim Murphy, Jr., UCLA; Matt Newman, Fr., ASU; Bryce Ortega, Fr., ARIZ; Derek Perren, Sr., USC; Tommy Rafferty, Sr., ASU; Daniel Robertson, Sr., OSU; Kevin Rhoderick, Fr., OSU; Kiel Roling, Jr., ASU; Josh Satow, Sr., ASU; Troy Scott, Fr., WASH; Ryan Sontag, Sr., ASU; Robert Stock, So., USC; Scott Suttmeier, Sr., WSU; Raoul Torrez, So., ASU; Anthony Vasquez, Jr., USC; Shea Vucinich, Fr., WSU; John Wallace, Jr., OSU; Matt Way, Jr., WSU; Austin Yount, Jr., STAN; C.J. Ziegler, Sr., ARIZ.