WCC CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL
SAN BRUNO, Calif. -- For the second straight year, three teams shared the regular season title -- the first two instances in the modern era. Five programs captured one of the five major West Coast Conference individual honors while tri-champions BYU, Gonzaga and Loyola Marymount claimed a combined eight spots on the 2017 All-WCC first team as announced by the league office.
San Diego junior catcher Riley Adams captured West Coast Conference Player of the Year honors, Loyola Marymount junior righthander Cory Abbott earned conference Pitcher of the Year accolades, while first-year utility player Kevin Milam collected the Freshman of the Year award for Saint Mary's. Sophomore infielder Daniel Schneemann of BYU captured Defensive Player of the Year honors. Gonzaga's Mark Machtolf was selected by his peers as Coach of the Year for the third time. All five individual awards -- along with the All-West Coast Conference First, Second and Freshman Teams -- were voted on solely by the league's 10 head coaches.
Riley Adams is the fourth San Diego student-athlete to capture West Coast Conference Player of the Year honors since 2013, joining three Toreros drafted in the first round of the Major League Draft: Kyle Holder (2015), Connor Joe (2014) and 2016 National League MVP Kris Bryant (2011). Adams hit .380 with nine doubles, eight home runs and 25 RBI during WCC action. Adams led the league in slugging (.710) and was second in on-base percentage (.476) and fourth in homers. The 10th San Diego student-athlete to capture Player of the Year honors, Adams helped a starting rotation comprised of a freshman and two sophomores post the third-best team ERA in the conference in 2017.
All-American candidate Cory Abbott turned in one of the most dominant seasons in Loyola Marymount and WCC history as a junior. Named to the National Pitcher of the Year Watch List, Abbott posted a sparkling 8-0 record with a record-setting 0.27 ERA during WCC play. Abbott tossed the first perfect game in WCC and LMU history against BYU (3/25/17) and posted scoreless innings streaks of 43.0 innings and 18.2 innings while allowing just two earned runs in 67.0 innings during league play. Abbott struck out 102 and walked only 14 and opposing hitters managed a paltry .127 batting average. Abbott is the second WCC hurler in two seasons to surpass a previously thought-to-be unassailable single-season ERA record: San Francisco All-American Dana Hendershott's 0.60 ERA set in 1971. Last season Pepperdine All-American A.J. Puckett posted a 0.40 ERA during WCC contests. Abbott is the fifth Lion to capture Pitcher of the Year accolades and the first since Stephen Kahn in 2004.
Kevin Milam enjoyed a strong freshman campaign in helping Saint Mary's to the WCC tournament for the second straight season. During league play, Milam started every game, batting .271 with 18 runs, four doubles, seven home runs and 26 RBI. The infielder finished his first WCC campaign with a flourish, belting three home runs -- two of them grand slams -- to lift SMC to a series sweep to secure the WCC berth. Milam is the fourth Gael named Freshman of the Year and the first since Troy Channing nabbed the award in 2009.
Daniel Schneemann enjoyed a strong season up the middle for BYU and collected Defensive Player of the Year honors. The shortstop committed three errors en route to a .978 fielding percentage and recorded 90 assists during league play. Schneemann helped BYU finish second in team defense among conference leaders (.977). In addition, the sophomore batted .274 with 30 runs, five doubles, triple and 14 RBI for the Cougars.
Mark Machtolf earns his third Coach of the Year honor after guiding Gonzaga to its third regular season WCC title in five seasons. Fresh off the first at-large NCAA Regional berth in program history in 2016, the Bulldogs went 31-19, 20-7 in WCC play. Gonzaga ranked second in team ERA (3.11) and fourth in team batting (.288) during league contests. Machtolf, who collected his 400th career win this season, became just the fifth coach in WCC history to collect 200 league triumphs, good for fifth place.
The first pitch of the 2017 WCC Baseball Championship is on Thursday at 3:00 p.m. PDT, when top-seed Gonzaga faces No. 4 Saint Mary's. That game will be followed by No. 2 Loyola Marymount vs. No. 3 BYU at approximately 7 p.m. PDT. All games of the championship will be broadcast live on TheW.tv and can also be accessed on the WCCsports App. In addition, TheW.tv broadcasts can be viewed live via Twitter using the #WCCchamps hashtag.
2017 West Coast Conference Player of the Year
Riley Adams, Jr., C, San Diego
2017 West Coast Conference Pitcher of the Year
Cory Abbott, Jr., RHP, Loyola Marymount
2017 West Coast Conference Freshman of the Year
Kevin Milam, Fr., DH/RHP, Saint Mary's
2017 West Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Year
Daniel Schneemann, So., IF, BYU
2017 West Coast Conference Coach of the Year
Mark Machtolf, Gonzaga
2017 All-WCC Baseball First Team
| Name | Yr. | Pos. | School |
| Cory Abbott | Jr. | RHP | Loyola Marymount |
| Riley Adams | Jr. | C | San Diego |
| Aaron Barnett | Sr. | DH | Pepperdine |
| Jake Brodt | Jr. | IF | Santa Clara |
| Phil Caulfield | Sr. | IF | Loyola Marymount |
| Joey Fiske | Jr. | OF | Saint Mary's |
| Edward Haus | So. | IF | Saint Mary's |
| Bronson Larsen | Sr. | C | BYU |
| Eli Morgan | Jr. | RHP | Gonzaga |
| Colton Shaver | Jr. | IF/DH | BYU |
| Jamey Smart | Jr. | IF | Loyola Marymount |
| Allen Smoot | Sr. | IF | San Francisco |
| Nick Sprengel | So. | LHP | San Diego |
2017 All-WCC Baseball Second Team
| Name | Yr. | Pos. | School |
| Brennon Anderson | Jr. | IF | BYU |
| Brenton Arriaga | Sr. | LHP | Loyola Marymount |
| Kevin Baker | So. | RHP | Portland |
| Sam Brown | Sr. | OF | Gonzaga |
| James Free | Fr. | C | Pacific |
| Jimmy Hill | Sr. | OF | Loyola Marymount |
| Keaton Kringlen | So. | OF | BYU |
| Hunter Mercado-Hood | Sr. | OF | San Diego |
| Kevin Milam | Fr. | DH/RHP | Saint Mary's |
| Wyatt Mills | Sr. | RHP | Gonzaga |
| Ricky Reynoso | So. | LHP | Pacific |
| Jake Roberts | Sr. | C | Gonzaga |
| Jay Schuyler | So. | OF/C | San Diego |
2017 WCC Baseball Honorable Mention
Tanner Chauncey, BYU; Troy Conyers, San Diego; John Cresto, Santa Clara; Spencer Erdman, Loyola Marymount; Daniel Fredrickson, Gonzaga; Roman Garcia, San Diego; Brock Hale, BYU; Zach Kirtley, Saint Mary's; Dominic Miroglio, San Francisco; Chris Murphy, San Diego; Thomas Ponticelli, San Francisco; Jordan Qsar, Pepperdine; Paul Richan, San Diego; Daniel Schneemann, BYU; Matt Sinatro, San Francisco; Drew Strotman, Saint Mary's; Johnny York, Saint Mary's
2017 All-WCC Baseball Freshman Team
| Name | Pos. | School |
| David Clawson | C | BYU |
| James Free | C | Pacific |
| Troy Johnston | DH | Gonzaga |
| Quincy McAfee | IF | Pepperdine |
| Kevin Milam | DH/RHP | Saint Mary's |
| Chris Murphy | LHP | San Diego |
| Andre Nnebe | OF | Santa Clara |
| Cooper Uhl | C | Loyola Marymount |
| Joe Vranesh | OF | Saint Mary's |
| Ken Waldichuk | LHP | Saint Mary's |