Six C-USA Players Named Freshman All-Americans

Chad Huffman

Six Conference USA players were named to the Louisville Slugger/Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American team, it has been announced by the publication. The six honorees are the second-most C-USA players to receive Freshman All-American honors in one season. Conference USA Tournament champion TCU produced three of the honorees, while regular season champion East Carolina, Southern Miss and USF all had one each.

TCU’s trio of Chad Huffman, Shelby Ford and German Duran were among the honorees. The freshmen honors mark the first time since 1996 that TCU has produced a Freshman All-American selection. Huffman's brother, Royce, was named a freshman All-American that season.

Huffman was named the Conference USA Freshman of the Year after an outstanding rookie campaign. Huffman led all Frogs with a .383 batting average and a .477 on-base percentage. He set a new TCU record for hits in a season with 97, breaking the previous record of 94 set by Royce Huffman in 1999 and Terry Trofholz in 2002. Huffman slugged nine home runs and drove in 44 in 64 games this season.

Ford saw action in 64 of the team's 65 games this season and was a versatile athlete on the infield. He is one of only five third basemen on the all-American team. As well as playing a majority of the season at third, Ford also saw time at second base and shortstop. He finished the season with a .301 batting average and a team-high 16 home runs. He was second on the squad with 56 runs driven in and a .570 slugging percentage.

German Duran was one of three shortstops named to the All-American team. He played in 51 games for TCU this season, compiling a .330 batting average. He slugged five home runs and 16 doubles. He was second on the team with nine stole bases and walks with 30. He drove in 27 runs for TCU.

Starting pitcher Shane Mathews of East Carolina has helped the Pirates to the best record on college baseball. He is second on the team in wins, posting a 7-1 record. Mathews has made 11 starts and 18 appearances overall, pitching 77 1/3 innings. He has struck out 54 batters and walked just 19, while posting a 3.72 ERA, second among starters.

Southern Miss pitcher Patrick Ezell became the third consecutive Golden Eagle player to be named a freshman All-American team and the eighth in the history of the program. Ezell finished with a 6-2 record and a team-low 3.57 ERA among starting pitchers. He pitched in a team-high 90.2 innings, struck out a team-high 73 batters and walked a team-low 14 batters among starting pitchers. He pitched one complete game, combined with Austin Tubb for a shutout and opponents hit .281 against him. Ezell pitched a season-high eight innings against Eastern Illinois (3/14) and TCU (4/4) and finished with a season-high 10 strikeouts against Eastern Illinois.

USF starting pitcher Casey Hudspeth rounded out C-USA’s selections. A member of the All-Freshmen Team in Conference USA, he posted an 8-4 record with a 3.45 ERA. Hudspeth fanned 74 batters with 35 walks. His eight victories were the most by a USF freshman since 1995.


2004 LOUISVILLE SLUGGER FRESHMEN ALL-AMERICAN TEAM AS CHOSEN BY COLLEGIATE BASEBALL

STARTING PITCHERS
LHP Wade LeBlanc, Alabama
RHP Tim Lincecum, Washington
LHP Jason Meyer, Texas A&M
LHP Nick Hill, Army
RHP Ian Kennedy, Southern California
LHP Chris Ingoglia, Stetson
LHP Clay Dirks, Louisiana St.
LHP Derrick Gordon, Lamar
LHP Dustin Pease, Mount St. Mary's
LHP Brian Schultz, Florida St.
LHP Kevin Gunderson, Oregon St.
LHP Kris Johnson, Wichita St.
LHP Keith Weiser, Miami (Ohio)
RHP Daniel Bard, North Carolina
RHP Brett Sinkbeil, S.W. Missouri St.
RHP Casey Hudspeth, USF
RHP Harold Mozingo, Virginia Commonwealth
RHP P.J. Walters, South Alabama
RHP Patrick Ezell, Southern Miss
RHP Ryan Zink, Illinois-Chicago
RHP Shane Matthews, East Carolina
RHP Taylor Meier, UCF
RHP David Williams, N.C. Asheville
RHP Jeff Day, Miami (Ohio)
RHP Kyle McCulloch, Texas
RHP Nick Chigges, Coll. Of Charleston
RHP Bobby Blevins, Le Moyne
RHP Jeff Samardzija, Notre Dame
RHP Stephen Perry, Dartmouth
RHP Josh Johnson, Mississippi St.
RHP Chris Grider, Eastern Kentucky

RELIEF PITCHERS
Blair Erickson, U.C. Irvine
Brian Pellegrini, St. Bonaventure
Derrik Lutz, George Washington

CATCHERS
Jordan Abruzzo, San Diego
Matt McBride, Lehigh
Chad Tracy, Pepperdine
Nick Salotti, U.C. Riverside
Sean Walker, Michigan St.

FIRST BASEMEN
Josh Morris, Georgia
Ryne Malone, Florida St.
Daniel Stovall, New Mexico
Mike Mee, Minnesota
Sean O'Brien, Virginia Tech

SECOND BASEMEN
Corey Wimberly, Alcorn St.
Adam Davis, Florida
Chris Campbell, Coll. Of Charleston
Jim Negrych, Pittsburgh
Jeffrey Rea, Mississippi St.

SHORTSTOPS
Chris Valaika, U.C. Santa Barbara
German Duran, TCU
Jason Donald, Arizona

THIRD BASEMEN
Ryan Campbell, Eastern Illinois
Austin Boggs, Texas A&M
Christian Vitters, Fresno St.
Miguel Magrass, Vermont
Shelby Ford, TCU

OUTFIELDERS
Drew Stubbs, Texas
Carson Kainer, Texas
Chad Huffman, TCU
Brett Bigler, U.C. Riverside
Clark Hardman, Cal. St. Fullerton
Jacob Howell, Ohio St.
Joey Side, Georgia
Nick Moresi, Fresno St.
Shane Jordan, Stetson

MULTIPLE POSITION ATHLETES
Zechry Zinicola, Arizona St.
Milan Dinga, Army

DESIGNATED HITTERS
Anthony Smith, George Washington
Danny Hamblin, Arkansas
Pat Tumilty, Evansville
Ricky Thomas, Prairie View A&M
Brock Ungricht, San Diego St.
Juan Serrano, Norfolk St.
Greg Sexton, William & Mary