July 5, 2007

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Texas Collegiate League has announced that James Oliver, a junior right-handed pitcher on the UAB baseball team, has been selected to play in the 2007 Brookshire's McCormick All-Star Game on July 9 at Lupton Stadium on the campus of TCU in Fort Worth, Texas.

Oliver will play on the Rogers Hornsby All-Star Team in the game that will be televised live on FSN-Southwest.

Oliver is 2-0 for the season having made three starts. The Mineral Wells Steam ace has a 4.00 ERA and 17 strikeouts, while holding opponents to a dismal .169 batting average.

"We are all really pleased for James that he has been named to the Texas League All-Star Game," said UAB head coach Brian Shoop. "One of the purposes of summer baseball is to improve your skills. James has obviously done that so we are not only pleased with his All-Star selection for this summer, but are also excited about his future at UAB."

This past spring, Oliver finished with one win and one save for the Blazers. He led the club in relief appearances with 22 and totaled 24 strikeouts.

"James is a special young man, really as good as they come," Shoop said. "He is a 4.0 student and one of the hardest workers on our team. He is always reaching out to help other people so it's exciting to see good things happen for such a great young man."

A total of three Conference USA players will compete in the game with Oliver being joined on the Rogers Hornsby team by Rice's Trey Crain. Houston's Zak Presley was selected to the Tris Speaker team. The rosters and for each division were selected by the head coaches in their respective division.

The Brookshire's McCormick All-Star Game will begin at 7:05 p.m. on Monday, July 9.