SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Senior starter Karl Maas was named Most Valuable Pitcher while junior catcher Derrick Chung was selected Most Valuable Position Player as the Sacramento State baseball team named its 2011 team award recipients.
In the other three honors, Andrew Ayers took home the Gold Glove Award, David Del Grande earned Most Improved and Will Soto was awarded Most Outstanding Newcomer.
The awards were voted on by the players.
KARL MAAS - MOST VALUABLE PITCHER
A walk-on senior from Tracy, Calif., Maas worked his way from the Hornets' Tuesday starter to begin the season to Sacramento State's lead Friday starter during conference play. The right-hander tallied a 4-5 record with a 4.30 ERA in a team-high 81.2 innings pitched. Maas recorded 36 strikeouts, 31 walks and two complete games.
DERRICK CHUNG - MOST VALUABLE POSITION PLAYER
A junior from Cypress, Calif., Chung recorded a team-best .406 on-base percentage with 50 hits, 38 walks and 14 HBPs in 195 at-bats. Chung started all 58 games on the season, primarily at catcher, but also seeing time at second and short. He posted a .990 fielding percentage while recording just three errors and hit .256 with a team-high 18 doubles. Chung was named second team all-Western Athletic Conference for his efforts.
ANDREW AYERS - GOLD GLOVE AWARD
Andrew Ayers split time between second base and right field in his sophomore season, but the Eureka, Calif., native still recorded just one error in 56 games while making 55 starts. He made 111 putouts with 80 assists en route to a team-high .995 fielding percentage.
DAVID DEL GRANDE - MOST IMPROVED
A redshirt freshman from Eureka, Calif., Del Grande hit .315 in conference games this year and .260 overall, with six doubles and three home runs. He was very versatile, playing 30 games at first base, 14 at second base, three at third base and two in left field. He tied for the team lead with 15 multi-hit games and posted five multi-RBI games as well.
WILL SOTO - MOST OUTSTANDING NEWCOMER A graduate of Elk Grove High School, Soto hit .706 (12-for-17) with seven runs scored, eight RBI, two doubles and three walks without a strikeout as Sacramento State split a four-game series at New Mexico State. He earned WAC Hitter of the Week honors for his outburst. Soto had 10 singles and two doubles in four games, including a Sacramento State season-high five hits in one game of the Saturday doubleheader at NMSU. He became just the 11th player in school history to tally five hits in a single game, good for No. 2 all-time on the single-game hits list at Sacramento State. Soto finished the season hitting .254 with six doubles and 13 RBIs. He hit .313 in conference games.
