University of Houston Athletics
Baseball Places Three on All-Region Team
6/12/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
June 12, 2003
HOUSTON - Three University of Houston baseball players were named to the 2003 American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings All-South Central Region Team on Tuesday.
Junior closer Ryan Wagner and junior starting pitcher Brad Sullivan each were named to the First Team while junior third baseman Hyung Cho garnered Second Team honors.
Wagner emerged as one of the nation's finest closers in 2003. He ranked among the national leaders with a UH-record 15 saves this season and broke a 39-year-old NCAA Division I record with 16.8 strikeouts per nine innings.
In only 79.1 innings of work, he compiled 154 strikeouts, the third-highest mark in UH single-season history. He also added a 6-5 record with a 1.93 ERA to lead the UH staff in the final category. Sullivan tossed 154 strikeouts, the second-highest total in UH single-season history and only three away from tying the school record he set in 2002.
The Nederland, Texas, native recorded six wins and held opponents to only a .201 batting average in 20 outings. Earlier in the year, he saw his consecutive inning scoreless streak snapped at 30.2 innings, the third-longest streak in school history.
Sullivan and Wagner became the first players in school history to be drafted in the first round in Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft. Wagner was taken with the 14th pick overall by the Cincinnati Reds, while Sullivan was taken at No. 25 by the Oakland Athletics.
The Cougar duo also became the first teammates to throw more than 100 strikeouts each in the same season and combined for 302 strikeouts, the highest total by a Cougar pitching combo in school history.
Cho established himself as the team's most consistent offensive threat during the 2003 season. With a .360 batting average, 14 home runs and 66 RBIs, he became only the ninth player in school history to win the team's Triple Crown.
He also etched his name into the UH single-season record book in RBIs, hits (90), at-bats (261) and total bases (155).
The South Central Region is comprised of 33 schools in conferences ranging from the Sun Belt, Southland, Southwestern Athletic, Atlantic Sun, Conference USA and Western Athletic. The region also includes three independent programs. Head coaches in the regions selected the two teams.
All First-Team members now become eligible for All-America status. The All-America teams will be announced at a later date.
