Baseball Places Three on C-USA All-Decade Team
5/24/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 24, 2005
HOUSTON - Former University of Houston pitchers Brad Sullivan, Kyle Crowell and Shane Nance were named to the Conference USA Baseball All-Decade Team on Monday afternoon.
The Cougar trio joined Tulane's Michael Aubrey as the only pitchers on the C-USA All-Decade Team.
With three honorees, Houston joined Tulane as the only team to place multiple players on the 11-member All-Decade Team. Tulane placed four players on the All-Decade Team, while Cincinnati, Louisville, Southern Miss and USF each had one player named to the squad.
Sullivan lettered at UH from 2001-03 and was a 2002 Consensus First-Team All-American, a season in which he compiled a school record 13 wins and 157 strikeouts. A two-time member of the ABCA All-South Central Region Team, Sullivan was honored as the C-USA Pitcher of the Year and helped lead the Cougars to back-to-back appearances in NCAA Super Regional championship games in 2002 and 2003.
A native of Nederland, Texas, Sullivan was a four-time National Player of the Week and was a two-time member of the C-USA Commissioner's Honor Roll. By the time his collegiate career ended, he ranked as the Cougars' and C-USA's all-time leader with 409 strikeouts.
Nance lettered at UH from 1997-00 and made an immediate impact at UH as a Collegiate Baseball Freshmen First-Team All-American. He was a consistent performer for the Cougars throughout his career, especially in the postseason where he has honored as the 2000 NCAA Regional at Cougar Field Most Outstanding Player and as a two-time member of the C-USA All-Tournament team in 1999 and 2000.
A six-time C-USA Pitcher of the Week honoree, Nance ended his career as the UH career leader with 32 wins and 411.1 innings pitched and ranked second among all Cougar hurlers with 388 strikeouts.
Crowell was the only player on the All-Decade Team who only pitched during his career. The only two-time C-USA Pitcher of the Year, he lettered at UH from 1998-00 and was a 2000 Baseball American First-Team All-American.
The Friendswood, Texas, native earned 13 wins during the 2000 season and threw 36.2 consecutive scoreless innings during the 1999 season to set a school record.
All three players took their expertise to the international level by competing with Team USA. Crowell pitched for Team USA in 1999, while Sullivan played in 2002. Nance is the Cougars' only two-time member of Team USA in 1998-99.
Tulane's Jake Gautreau was named the Player of the Decade, while Green Wave skipper Rick Jones as honored as the Coach of the Decade.
Other members of the All-Decade Team included Cincinnati infielder Kevin Youkilis, Louisville outfielder Mark Jurich, Southern Miss outfielder Jeff Cook, Tulane pitcher/infielder Michael Aubrey, Tulane infielder James Jurries, Tulane catcher Chad Sutter and USF infielder Ross Gload.
Conference USA is celebrating its 10th anniversary during the 2004-05 season. In conjunction, the league has named a Team of the Decade for each of the conference's 19 sports. Voting on the awards was done by each of the league's current baseball coaches.