May 31, 2005

IRVINE, Calif. - Freshman Justin Baum (La Mesa, Calif.) highlighted five Pacific Tigers earning a spot on the All-Big West Teams as Baum was named to the All-Big West First Team and earned the Big West Freshman Player of the Year. Senior Josh Schmidt (Sierra Madre, Calif.) was named to the All-Big West Second Team, while senior Brandon Gottier (Bellingham, Wash.) and juniors Matt Berezay (Manteca, Calif.) and Luke Massetti (Modesto, Calif.) earned All-Big West Honorable Mention.

In his first season with the Tigers, Baum etched his name atop several Pacific records as he broke the Tigers¹ single-season record for home runs with 17 this season to lead the team and the Big West Conference. The previous record for home runs in one season was 15 by Vic Sanchez in 1994. Justin¹s 133 total bases ranked third in Pacific history during one season and his 45 RBI, tie him for ninth in a season. Baum finished the season with a team high .332 batting average. Justin also led the Tigers with a .700 slugging percentage, 45 RBI and a .389 on-base percentage. The pinnacle of Baum¹s season came during the week of May 9-16 as he earned Pacific first national player of the week honor by going 13-for-16 (.813) in four games.

Schmidt nabbed All-Big West Second Team as he led the conference with a 1.79 ERA in 36 relief appearances. Josh broke Pacific¹s single-season and career records for saves in 2005 as he finished the season with 11 saves, giving him 18 saves in his two-year career at Pacific. The previous record for saves in a season was shared by Mark Short (1999), Andy Willick (2003) and Schmidt (2004) at seven saves. Short (1997-2000) also held the mark for career saves with 11. Schmidt¹s 36 appearances broke the school record of 33 appearances that he set in 2004. In addition, Josh finished this season second in the nation with 13.3 strikeouts per nine innings.

In his final year with the Tigers, Gottier posted a .307 average with a team-high 66 hits this season. Brandon also gunned down 24-of-61 (39.3 %) of opposing base runners and picked off five runners from behind the plate.

Berezay completed his first season with Pacific by posting a .284 batting average, with 15 home runs and 44 RBI. Matt led the Tigers with 42 runs scored this season and was the only player to start in each of Pacific¹s 58 games as he started every game in 2005.

Massetti finished the season with an 8-6 record, including victories in his final three starts. Luke tossed back-to-back complete games in his final two outings, defeating Sacramento State, 4-1, on May 20 and UC Davis, 1-0, on May 27. Earlier this season, Massetti shut down No. 9 Long Beach State as the Tigers upset the 49ers, 5-1, on Apr. 22. For his efforts, Massetti was named Big West Pitcher of the week on two occasions this season.