Fresno State Athletics
Dogs Earn Top WAC Honors
5/24/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 24, 2011
MESA, Ariz. - Three Bulldogs earned top honors at the 2011 Western Athletic Conference annual postseason banquet on Tuesday night.
The WAC coaches selected junior Dusty Robinson as the conference Player of the Year, senior Greg Gonzalez Pitcher of the Year and Aaron Judge was named WAC Freshman of the Year. Fresno State also had a total of nine Bulldogs earn All-WAC honors.
Fresno State also received its trophy for winning a share of the regular season title. The Dogs finished the WAC season 17-7 and tied with Hawai'i. It is the sixth start year that the Bulldogs have won a piece of the WAC title.
Robinson became the Fourth straight Bulldog to earn Player of the Year honors. The outfielder is a three-time All-WAC selection and hit .326 in 24 games. Robinson recorded six home runs and 24 RBIs. He also had eight doubles, two triples and seven stolen bases.
Gonzalez is the first Bulldog pitcher since Tanner Scheppers in 2008 to earn the top-pitching honor in the conference. Gonzalez had a 4-0 record in seven conference starts. He allowed eight earned runs and struck out 66 batters in 47.1 innings pitched. He had a conference best ERA of 1.52.
The last time a Bulldog was named Freshman of the Year was in 2008, when Danny Muno earned the award. Judge hit .414 in conference play with five doubles, a triple, a home run and 13 RBIs.
Seven Bulldogs including, Gonzalez, Robinson, Judge, Muno, Jordan Ribera, Garrett Weber, Austin Wynns earned first-team All-WAC honors from the conference head coaches.
Last year's WAC Player of the Year, Ribera was an All-WAC selection for the second year in a row. The senior recorded a team-high 30 RBIs in conference play. Ribera hit .271 with five doubles, a triple and six home runs.
Weber earned All-WAC honors for the second time in 2011. The senior had 24 hits in 24 games for a .276 batting average. Weber recorded a double, three home runs and 17 RBIS. He also recorded 10 walks.
It is the fourth time in his career that Muno has earned All-WAC accolades. He hit .341 with 29 hits in 24 games. Muno had five doubles, a home run and 18 RBIS. He also recorded a team-high 18 walks and had two stolen bases.
Wynns, a sophomore, earned All-WAC honors for the first time in his career this season. Wynns hit .275 with 19 hits and two home runs. He recorded eight RBIs and 12 walks.
Juniors Josh Poytress and freshman Brennan Gowens received second-team All-WAC recognition for the 2011 season.
For the second straight year, Poytress has earned an all-conference accolade. He had a 4-1 record against WAC opponents. Poytress allowed 11 earned runs in 40.2 innings of work. He also struck out 31 batters in seven starts.
Gowens was named All-WAC for the first time in 2011. He hit .325 and started 23 conference games. Gowens had 26 hits including, four doubles and two home runs. He also recorded 11 RBIs, 12 walks and seven stolen bases.
The No. 2 seeded Bulldogs play their first game of the tournament on Thursday, May 26 at 3 p.m.
"We Are You Team!" - Fresno State will battle for the 2011 Western Athletic Conference Tournament title in Mesa, Ariz., this week. You can always stay connected with Fresno State Athletics on Facebook and Twitter (@FSAthletics).
